Revenue-generating electronic multi-media exchange and process of operating same

ABSTRACT

In a process for creating media content, media submissions are requested and electronically received from end users and stored in a computer database. The submissions are searched for material to be included in the media content, and cross-checked against the other submissions for originality and timeliness. After the material is selected from one or more submissions, the content is developed and released to an audience for review. The end users whose submission material was included in the released content are rewarded. In one embodiment, third parties are permitted to access and search the submissions on an open exchange. The third parties can bid for rights in submissions on the open exchange. After receiving these bids, they are forwarded to the particular submission&#39;s end user for acceptance or rejection. Appropriate billing and payment processes are used to bill and pay the parties involved.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of prior application Ser. No.11/978,781, filed on Oct. 30, 2007, which is a continuation of priorapplication Ser. No. 10/536,169, filed on Dec. 7, 2007, now U.S. Pat.No. 8,090,605, which is a continuation of prior application Ser. No.09/565,438 filed on May 5, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,308,413, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety, and further claimspriority from provisional application Ser. No. 60/133,247, filed May 5,1999.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the creation and distribution of mediacontent such as television programming, movies, music and the like. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to a process for creatingmedia content based upon submissions received on an electronicmulti-media exchange.

The ever important influence of the Internet is evident from thefollowing reports and statistics. According to a recent report, thenumber of Internet users in North America is approximately 92 millionand it is estimated that 350 million people will be on the Internet bythe year 2003. The growth of the Internet has been largely understatedwhen considering that in June of 1993 there were a mere 130 web sitescompared to more than 650,000 sites by the end of 1997, according toJupiter Communications, a New York Media Research firm. In March of1999, Network Solutions, having a U.S. franchise to dispense webaddresses, registered its four millionth Internet domain name.

The Internet has reached farther and faster than any previouscommunications technology. It took 35 years for radio to reach 50million listeners. Television needed 13 years to reach that number. Incomparison, it took the Internet only 4 years to reach 50 million people(Cisco System Annual Report, 1998).

The Internet has fundamentally changed the way we communicate. It isestimated that 85% of the United States homes connected to the Internetuse e-mail frequently, according to International Data Corporation (USAToday, Jun. 16, 19998). Individuals worldwide are taking classes,shopping for gifts, writing to their grandchildren, planning vacations,and buying everything from cars to homes using the Internet. Accordingto Activmedia, e-commerce generated nearly one hundred billion dollarsin revenue in 1999. It is estimated that electronic commerce(e-commerce) is expected to surge to more than one trillion dollars bythe year 2003. According to an April, 1999 study by CommerceNet andNielsen Media Research, the number of online consumers jumped 40% to 28million over a nine month period.

According to a Navidec survey, 53% of Internet consumers in the UnitedStates made an on-line purchase within the first half of 1999, spendingan average of $206 per purchase. This compares to just 26% of UnitedStates web users that purchased online in 1997. Cars and car parts (18.2million shoppers), books (12.6 million shoppers), computers (12.4million shoppers), clothing (11.6 million shoppers), and CD's/videos(11.4 million shoppers) top the list of items shopped for online.

It has been found that the incredible growth of the Internet is directlyvying with television for limited household leisure time. A studyconducted by the new Nielsen Media Research states that homes that havethe Internet and on-line services are watching 15% less television thanother homes (USA Today, Aug. 13, 1998). Television networks areincreasingly having to face the future and prepare for the convergenceof television and the Internet. This has recently been manifested byNBC's purchase of a major share of C-NET and ABC's purchase of a majorshare of the Internet search engine Infoseek.

The television industry finds itself having to grapple with its abilityto attract viewers as technology offers unlimited avenues ofentertainment. Furthermore, concerns for quality and new innovativeapproaches to programming have dampened the creative integrity of themedium. While consumers have a vast litany of channels to choose from,most of the programming is either recycled or lacks the creativefreshness to stimulate consumer appeal. For example, the majority ofprime time television shows have between eight to twelve writers basedon budget or design. On average, each writer typically produces four tosix quality ideas for their respective television show. For instance,today writers start with a pen and blank sheet of paper and it isincumbent upon them to generate a number of episodes from a singlemind's creative ingenuity, inferences and real life experiences. Withinthis limited pool of ideas, it becomes a difficult challenge to producetwenty-four episodes per season with the same level of productionquality.

Creating fresh ideas for weekly episodes is and has always been thewriting team's biggest challenge, even if the show has a strong cast andoriginal concept. Thus, a great number of television shows lack thecreative frame of reference to produce consistent quality weeklyepisodes. Therefore, a growing number of television shows fail each yearbecause they lack both a fresh concept and the creative frame ofreference to produce consistent quality weekly episodes. Other mediasuch as the movie, magazine, newspaper, and music industries all facesimilar challenges.

There are many people who have created books, screenplays, comic strips,songs, etc. and probably even more people who have thought of an ideafor such media whose ideas are not currently being used. Theseindividuals would like to expose their ideas to the appropriate mediaindustry. Presently, this is done by directly contacting a media companyin the industry and then mailing the media content to the company andwaiting to hear if the company likes the idea and would like to use orpurchase it. This requires an enormous amount of time and energy onbehalf of the artist in making contacts and sending the materials to theright contacts. It also is a logistical nightmare for the mediacompanies who are bombarded with scripts, songs and other artisticsubmissions which must then be sorted through before determining which,if any, of the submissions meet their needs.

There currently exist open exchanges for many items such as futures,stocks and bonds. Other exchanges specialize in the sale of information,such as that provided by Lexis/Nexis. The exchange's main function is tosupport a marketplace for the buying and selling of the goods andservices. The exchange's main role is to serve as a structured meetingground for the negotiation of the good or service provided. Currently,there does not exist a means of bringing artistic media works togetherin an open exchange format for searching, viewing and/or purchase in oneconvenient location.

Accordingly, there is a need for a process which facilitates theconvergence of the technologies of media, such as television, and theInternet. What is also needed is a process which will allow media endusers to interact with the creators of the media to grant a means ofproviding the media creator with creative submissions from the end userswhich can be selected and adapted for inclusion in the media content.The process should preferably reward the end user for his or hersubmission and participation with the process so as to create interestand enthusiasm in the media content. What is further needed is an openexchange wherein submitted media works and ideas can be convenientlysearched for and viewed for use or purchase by third parties. Thepresent invention fulfills these needs and provides other relatedadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention resides in a process for creating media contentbased upon submissions received on an electronic multi-media exchange.

In a preferred embodiment, the present invention includes a system ofend user interfaces (for either members/submitters, creators, or thirdparty end users), and a central controller having associated databases.The present invention provides a networked system to submit forms ofeither protectable or non-protectable content material which may betransformed in the same form or adapted into multi-media content fordistribution. In particular, any form of content material that may bestored in file text, video, audio, etc. and transferred through thenetwork system described herein. Such content material applicable to thepresent invention may include, but is not limited to the following:movies, screenplays, television scripts, book manuscripts, plays, music,music lyrics, newspaper and magazine articles, comic stripes,sweepstakes, print media like calendars, greeting cards, novelty items,digital photographs, etc. as well as any other form of literary work oridea that might be non-protectable or protectable through eithercopyright, trademark, or patent rights.

Submitters receive credits for their contributions and can receiveawards and compensation through submission awards campaigns or throughan open exchange. The networked system supervises the request anddistribution of submissions to creators, provides a search mechanism forcontent material selection, stimulates an end user interest throughcontest and points awards campaigns, and can allow third party access torequest and/or purchase submissions through the open exchange. Thus, aperson looking to submit content material can do so in a simple, costand time effective manner and may be compensated for theirparticipation.

It is also the intention of the present invention to provide ane-commerce model where content distributed over television or theInternet will provide a gateway to purchasing products and servicesdisplayed or audibly presented during the content presentation. Thee-commerce embodiment will enable viewer purchases to occur either onthe creators web site through recreated models or right off the screenof television or Internet presentations through the use of clickablevideo and a mouse or remote. This is enabled through digital technologywhich might entail set-top box technology for the conversion of analogtelevision broadcast to a digital format. A masking technique overlaysthe video production to both identify and display those items availablefor promotion and/or purchase.

The process of the invention generally comprises the steps of firstrequesting media submissions for inclusion in the media content. Endusers interface with a creator serviced system utilizing a computernetwork. Submissions are electronically received from the end users. Oneor more electronic submission formats are typically provided to the enduser. For example, the submission format can be an interactive formatwhich includes at least one of pre-prepared, fill-in-the-blanks,questions and answers, polls, surveys and games. Alternatively, thesubmission format is an open format wherein the end user submitsoriginal media material such as scripts, music etc. The submissionmaterial, which can comprise anything which can be stored in anelectronic file or digitally transferred, is stored in a computerdatabase.

The end user, now the submitter, is granted a predetermined number ofpoints for the submission. The points can be redeemed for entry into asweepstakes or for the purchase of prizes. The end user can elect topurchase products presented within released content with the points.These products can also be offered for cash or credit card sale.

The end user can be offered intellectual property protection informationso that the end user can protect his or her submission material, or havethe services offered through the creator service provider or directed toan appropriate provider of such services.

The submissions are searched for submission material which is intendedto be included in the media content. The desired submission material iscross-checked against the other submissions for originality andtimeliness before selecting the submission. The end user is thennotified that his or her submission has been selected. All end users cancheck the status of their submissions to see if their submission hasbeen reviewed and/or by the creator.

After the material is selected from the one or more submissions, thecontent is developed based, in whole or part, upon the selected one ormore submissions. This can occur by communicating with the end user andworking with the end user to adapt his or her submission material foruse in the media content.

After the content has been developed, it is released to an audiencewhich includes end users for review. The end user's whose submissionmaterial was included in the released content are rewarded.

Preferably, end users of the audience rate the released content. Thoseend users who submitted material in the open format were entered into acontest. A reward may be given to one or more end users based upon ahigh rating of the released content which included the user's material.

In a particular preferred embodiment, the submissions can be madeavailable to an open exchange. Third parties are permitted to access andsearch the submissions on the open exchange as determined by the creatorservice provider. The third parties can bid for rights in particularsubmissions on the open exchange. After receiving these bids, they areforwarded by the creator service provider to the particular submission'send user. The invention can provide agency and sales services whichpromote the submitter's material. A billing system can be provided foruse by the third parties and end users of the open exchange fortransacting payment and billing. The billing system can also be used bythe creator service provider in billing either third parties or endusers for services rendered or in paying end users for their selectedsubmissions.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following more detailed description, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way ofexample, the principles of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention. In such drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a creator central controllerelectronically connected to various end user viewer interfaces via anetwork;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the central controller ofFIG. 1, utilized in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating computing resources of thecentral controller of FIG. 1 being distributed over a number of servers;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an exemplary end user systeminterface;

FIGS. 5A-5D are flowcharts illustrating general steps of the process ofthe present invention;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are flowcharts illustrating registration steps taken inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the steps taken in asynchronouscontent request from the creator central controller;

FIGS. 8A and 8B are flowcharts illustrating the steps of interactive,synchronous content request;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the steps taken in interactivecontent submission in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 10A and 10B are flowcharts illustrating the steps taken in opencontent submission in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the steps of encryption ofelectronic transfers in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 12A and 12B are flowcharts illustrating steps taken in provisionof intellectual property protection services;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating the steps taken for a point systemin accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating the steps taken in conducting astatus check in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating the steps taken in a pre-selectedsearch process in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating the steps taken in an open searchprocess in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating the steps taken in cross-checkingsubmissions in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating the steps taken in communicatingwith selected submitters;

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating the steps taken in a voting processin accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 20A-20C are flowcharts illustrating the steps taken in an openexchange in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating a method of billing and payment usedin accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating the steps taken in conducting paperbilling and payment;

FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating the steps taken in conducting creditcard billing and payment;

FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating the steps taken in conductingelectronic fund transfer billing and payment; and

FIG. 25 is a flowchart illustrating the steps taken in conductingdigital cash billing and payment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The terms content or interactive content are used in the followingdescription to broadly apply to any form of deliverable content or mediathat may be either broadcast or distributed to entertain, instruct, ordeliver some form of message. Although television and the Internetembody the preferred form of media of the present invention, the scopeof the invention is applicable to all forms of media whether printed,broadcast, projected or performed. With the advent of the Internet andthe building of the broadband communications network, content will bedelivered through many different evolving multi-media technologies, allof which come under the object of this invention. For example, analogand digital television, the Internet, and satellite and broadbandcommunications are some of the channels for delivering content aspresented by this invention. Moreover, as television and the Internetbecome indivisible, the applications of the present invention will applyto the rapidly evolving interactive media of the new millennium.

The method and apparatus of the present invention will now be discussed.

Network System Architecture

The system architecture of a preferred embodiment of the apparatus andprocess of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 1-4. As shownin FIG. 1, the system architecture of the present invention generallycomprises a central controller 200, end user viewer interfaces 400(collectively the “nodes”). Each node is typically connected to thecentral controller 200 via an Internet connection, such as a modem 110,using a public switched phone network 120, such as those provided by alocal or regional telephone operating company. Connection may also beprovided by dedicated data lines, cellular, personal communicationsystems (“PCS”), microwave, or satellite networks. Interfaces 400 arethe input and output gateways for communications with central controller200.

Using the above components, the present invention provides a method andapparatus to request desired content material, receive content materialsubmissions from registered members, search and cross-check desiredmaterial, stimulate participation through content awards and pointscampaigns, and allows third party access to request and/or purchasesubmissions through an open exchange embodiment, as further describedherein. Through the method and apparatus of the present invention,creators and third party end users end users can efficiently requestand/or search for desired content materials and submitters arecompensated through numerous ways presented herein for such submissions.

As shown in FIG. 2, central controller 200 includes central processor(CPU) 205, cryptographic processor 210, RAM 215, ROM 220, billingprocessor 225, payment processor 230, clock 235, operating system 240,network interface 245, and data storage device 250. A conventionalpersonal computer or computer workstation with sufficient memory andprocessing capability may be used as central controller 200. In apreferred embodiment the central controller 200 operates as a webserver, both receiving and transmitting data inquiries generated by endusers. The central controller 200 must be capable of high volumetransaction processing and performing a significant number ofmathematical calculations in processing communications and databasesearches. A Pentium microprocessor, commonly manufactured by Intel Inc.,may be used for CPU 205.

A microcontroller, commonly manufactured by Motorola Inc., may be usedfor cryptographic processor 210. Equivalent processors may also be used.Cryptographic processor 210 supports the authentication ofcommunications from the creators, third parties and submitters/membersas well as allowing for anonymous transactions. Cryptographic processor210 may also be configured as part of CPU 205. Other sample commerciallyavailable specialized cryptographic processors include VLSI Technology's33 MHz 6868 or Semaphore Communications' 40 MHz Roadrunner 284.

Referring again to FIG. 2, billing processor 225 and payment processor230 comprise conventional microprocessors (such as the Intel Pentium),supporting the transfer and exchange of payments, charges, or debits,attendant to the method of the apparatus. Either processor 225 or 230may also be configured as part of CPU 205. Processing of credit cardtransactions by these processors may be supported with commerciallyavailable software, such as the Secure Webserver manufactured by OpenMarket, Inc. This server software transmits credit card numberselectronically over the Internet to servers located at the Open Marketheadquarters where card verification and processing is handled. TheirIntegrated Commerce Service provides back-office services necessary torun Web-based businesses. Services include online account statements,order-taking and credit card payment authorization, credit cardsettlement, automated sales tax calculations, digital receiptgeneration, account-based purchase tracking, and payment aggregation forlow-priced services.

Data storage device 250 may include hard disk magnetic or opticalstorage units, as well as CD-ROM drives, flash memory or other nascentmemory devices with future commercial application. Data storage device250 may contain this representative storage configuration for processingthe necessary transactions for the present invention, includingsubmitter/member database 255, creator/third party database 260,submission databases 1, 2, 3, etc. 265, request databases 1, 2, 3, etc.270, content databases 1, 2, 3, etc. 275, subject database 280, billingdatabase 285, payment database 290, points database 295, voting/surveydatabase 300, audit database 305, and cryptographic key database 310.More than one database per function may be needed to facilitate theexpensive nature of the application, i.e. submission databases 1, 2, 3,etc. depending on the many different types of submissions received. Itis important to note, the configuration presented is representative innature and the actual configuration will depend on the specificapplication of the present invention. In a preferred embodiment databasesoftware such as Oracle7, manufactured by Oracle Corporation, is used tocreate and manage these databases.

Member/submitter database 255 maintains data on all the registeredmembers and more specifically those who have made submissions, such asname, address, private key information, e-mail addresses, physicaladdresses, payment preferences, voice mail addresses, member profile,biographies, past submissions, respective subject areas of submissionsand the like. Member profile includes, instructional page acceptance,disclaimer acceptance, prior submission bids accepted, submission rightssale rates, automatic bid amounts, acceptable price ranges, and thelike. Member/submitter database 255 may include rating informationgenerated by end users, as well as member address, which is used todirect communications to the member. Member address comprises a phonenumber, web page URL, bulletin board address, pager number, telephonenumber, e-mail address, voice mail address, facsimile number, or anyother way to contact the member either synchronously (such as telephoneor chat-room) or asynchronously (such as e-mail or postal mail).Member/submitter database 255 also stores all bid responses and bidcounter offers generated by the submitter. Advertising data generated bythe member/submitter may also be stored in this database. Depending onthe application of the present invention and the specific storagepreferences for members and/or submitters, this database configurationmay require a separate database structure for members and submitters.

Creator/third party database 260 maintains data on all creators or thirdparty end users, such as name, address, phone number, ID number, e-mailaddress, payment preferences, past system usage, private keyinformation, etc. It also contains creator/third party end userprofiles, which stores preferences, membership acceptance, disclaimeracceptance, acceptable price levels, bid amounts, and the like. It alsocontains copies of each bid offer and bid counter offer generated by thethird party end user, as will be explained further herein. Depending onthe application of the present invention and the specific storagepreferences for creators and third party end user, this databaseconfiguration may require a separate database structure for creators andthird party end users.

Submission databases 1, 2, 3, etc. 265, may include more than onedatabase depending on the different forms of submissions, includescontent material submissions received by central controller 200 andindexed by subject. A unique tracking number is also stored for eachsubmission. The submission database 265 also stores the submitter'sname(s), as well as the time and date of the submission. Submissions maybe transferred through mediums such as, but not limited to e-mail,postal mail, telephone, fax, voice mail, IVRU (Interactive VoiceResponse Unit), voice recognition technology (such as SpeakEZ), beeper,web page URL, electronically transferred text, pictures, audio, video,etc. and through other communication transfer devices either digital,like PDA's, as well as non-digital.

Request database 270 includes all creator or third party end usercontent material request received by central controller 200 and indexedby subject. A unique tracking number is also stored for each request.The request database 270 also stores the requester's name(s), as well asthe time and date of the request.

Content databases 1, 2, 3, etc. 275, may include more than one databasedepending on the different forms of content archived, includes bothcontent material kept in form and content material adapted intomulti-media that is received by the central controller 200, indexed bysubject and distributed. The content is then given a unique trackingnumber, and the content and its title are stored, along with the timeand date of its release.

Subject database 280, maintains all of the categorical data eitherprovided by submitters or requested by creators or third party end usersfor the submission or request for content material. This database canalso be used to store submissions which are being developed into contentby the creator.

Billing database 285 and payment database 290 track all commercialtransactions, as well as payment and billing preferences. Thesedatabases are valuable in the event of complaints by both submitters andthird party end users regarding payment, because an audit trail can beproduced.

Points database 295 maintains an up to date point total displayed inreal time on the Internet or other electronic communications device of amember's point accumulations for their interactive participation. Thepoints may be used to enter sweepstakes, or purchase cash and othermerchandise awards and the like.

Voting/survey database 300 maintains the voting register ofmembers/peoples voting and rating of distributed content. This databasemay also be used to perform other survey functions for either contentrating or interactive feature content submissions.

Audit database 305 stores transactional information that may beretrieved for later analysis. Due to the legal liability of submittingeither protectable or non-protectable content material, a electronicpaper tail is necessary for storing and tracking both submission andrequest file utilization by anyone connected to the network, approved orunapproved. Text data from chat rooms may also be stored in thisdatabase, for audit by creators and/or third party end users.

In order to facilitate cryptographic functions, there is cryptographickey database 310 which stores both symmetric and asymmetric keys. Thesekeys are used by cryptographic processor 210 for encrypting anddecrypting all content material submissions and creator or third partyend user request, as well as message traffic such as bid amounts andacceptances of offers. It should be understood that the above describeddatabases are representative only. Databases may be added or substitutedas necessary in order to accomplish the intended processes of thepresent invention.

Network interface 245 is the gateway to communicate withmembers/submitters and creators and/or third party end users throughtheir respective interfaces. Conventional internal or external modemsmay serve as network interface 245. Network interface 245 supportsmodems at a range of baud rates from 1200 upward, but may combine inputsinto such as a T1 and T3 (or OC1, OC2, and OC3) line if more bandwidthis required. In a preferred embodiment, network interface 245 isconnected with the Internet and/or any of the commercial online serviceproviders such as America Online, CompuServe, The Microsoft Network, orNetZero allowing end users access from a wide range of onlineconnections. Several commercial e-mail servers also include the abovefunctionality. NCD Software manufactures “Post.Office”, a secureserver-based electronic mail software package designed to link peopleand information over enterprise networks and the Internet. The productis platform independent and utilizes open standards based on Internetprotocols. Users can exchange messages with enclosures such as files,graphics, video and audio. The system also supports multiple languages.Alternatively, network interface 245 may be configured as a voice mailinterface web site, BBS, or e-mail address.

While the above embodiment describes a single computer acting as thecentral controller, those skilled in the art will realize that thefunctionality can be distributed over a plurality of computers. Inanother embodiment, central controller 200 may be configured in adistribution architecture, as shown in FIG. 3, wherein the databases andprocessors are housed in separate units or locations. Controllers 320through 340 perform the primary processing functions and contain at aminimum RAM, ROM, and a general processor. Each of these controllers isattached to WAN hub 300 which serves as the primary communication linkwith the other devices. WAN hub 300 may have minimal processingcapability itself, serving primarily as a communications router.Although only three controllers are shown in this embodiment, thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that an almost unlimited number ofcontrollers may be supported. In such a configuration, each controlleris in communication with its constituent parts, but the processor and/ordata storage functions are performed by stand-alone units. Paymentprocessor and database 350 and 355, billing processor and database 360and 365, and end user database 370 all communicate through WAN hub 300with controllers 320 through 340. This arrangement yields a more dynamicand flexible system, less prone to catastrophic hardware failuresaffecting the entire system.

FIG. 4 describes the architecture of interfaces 400 formembers/submitters, creators and/or third party end users. In anexemplary embodiment the interfaces comprise conventional personalcomputers having an input device, such as a keyboard, mouse, orconventional voice recognition software package; a display device, suchas a video monitor; a processing device such as a CPU; and a networkinterface such as a modem. Alternatively, interface 400 may alsocomprise voice mail systems, or other electronic or voice communicationssystems. As will be described further, devices such as fax machines orpagers are also suitable interfaces.

The interface architecture 400 typically includes a central processor(CPU) 405, RAM 410, ROM 415, clock 420, video driver 425, video monitor430, communication port 440, input device 445, modem 450, and datastorage device 460. Cryptographic processor 435 and even biometricdevices 455 may be added for stronger authentication as described later.A Pentium microprocessor such as the 100 MHz P54C described above may beused for CPU 405. Clock 420 is a standard chip-based clock which canserve to time-stamp either submissions or requests produced withinterface 400. If a cryptographic processor is required, the MC68HC16microcontroller described above can be used. The structure of abiometric device will be described below in conjunction with thecryptographic authentication embodiment. Data storage device 460 is aconventional magnetic based hard disk storage unit, such as thosemanufactured by Conner Peripherals. Information storage database 470 maybe used for archiving purposes while audit database 480 may be used forrecording communications with central controller 200 as well as paymentrecords.

There are many commercial software applications that can enable thecommunications required by interface 400, the primary functionalitybeing message creation and transmission and electronic file transfertext, video, audio, etc. Eudora Pro manufactured by QualcommIncorporated, for example, provides editing tools for the creation ofmessages as well as the communications tools to route the message to theappropriate electronic address.

The Process of the Invention

While the preferred embodiment focuses on a television application forthe present invention, this exemplary description may be representativeof any medium that distributes content and/or media as described above.Additionally, the convergence of television and the Internet to form aninteractive medium renders the present definition of television as toonarrow in scope to adequately encompass the invention. As discussedherein, the word television will serve to represent all forms of analogor digitally transferred audio and video presentations, whetherbroadcast over cable, satellite, or the Internet. This includes allinteractive formats broadcast over the Internet or traditionaltelevision through the use of set-top box technology, interactivetelevision, or other digital devices.

It should be noted that the terms referenced for the participants of thepresent invention member, submitter, creator, and third party end usermay be used to refer to one or many in the context of the application.

Referring now to FIGS. 5A-5D, the process of the present invention isgenerally illustrated. Through the use of the system architecturediscussed in FIGS. 1-4, at step 500 creators or third party end usersmay request content material to develop content, either maintaining itsform or adapting it to a desired media. Content material request willpreferably be transmitted through interactive television or over theInternet through a web destination, e-mail, IM (Instant Message),chatroom, or other present synchronous or asynchronous Internet protocolor developing Internet communications as described below. Alternatively,material content requests may include but are not limited to paper mail,telephone, IVRU (Interactive Voice Response Unite), fax, beeper, etc.

In response to the content request in step 500, end users interface withthe system and register at step 502. At step 504, the end user selects asubmission format. If the end user selects the interactive submissionfeature in step 506, the end user responds to surveys, polls,fill-in-the-blanks, question and answers, games etc. prepared by thecreator and/or third party end user and which are encrypted forauthorization and security as illustrated in steps 508 and 510 and morefully described below with respect to FIG. 10.

The end user submitter receives a pre-determined number of points instep 512 for the submission which can be accumulated and traded to entera sweepstakes or purchase other prize awards. The awards or sweepstakescan include items which are the subject of the medium content, forexample a music CD, or a product shown on the subject televisionprogram.

In step 514, the data containing the submission is transmitted to thecentral controller and stored and retained by the creator. Thesubmission material may be made available to a third party open exchangein step 516 for use and/or purchase by third parties as more fullydescribed herein with respect to FIG. 20. As part of this process, instep 518 the submitter or creator may place an initial offer orbeginning bid price on the content material. Although the submissionmaterial is password and otherwise encrypted, in step 520 the submittermay purchase protection insurance through the open exchange.

After receipt and storage, in step 522 the submission material isselected by the creator and adapted into content. The submitter maycheck the status of his or her submission at any time after submissionin step 524 by inquiring the central controller 200 of its status. Thecentral controller 200 tracks the submission by logging the date andtime the submission was received, assigning a password or otherencryption information, and whether the submission has been reviewed andselected by the creator or not. The content development may include oneor more submissions and/or data from interactive features according tostep 526. In step 528, the submitter or submitters may, in conjunctionwith the efforts of the creator, contribute to the development, storyline and/or outcome.

Once the development and adaptation process is completed, step 530, thecontent is released to the audience for review per step 532. Thesubmitters whose material was selected and used in the released contentis given credit in step 534 (for example listed on either the opening orclosing credits of a television program). The selected submitters arealso preferably rewarded with cash or other prize awards. The audiencethen has the opportunity in step 536 to vote for and rank the releasedcontent. For example, for each television episode the audience may rateit on a scale from 1 to 10. This ranking is preferably conducted throughthe Internet but may also be done through telephone, print media, suchas newspapers, or mail-in ballots. At the end of the season the audiencecan select or rate their favorite episode of the season. In steps 538and 540, the highest rated concept submitters receive rewards in theform of credit payment, cash or other rewards. For example, where aselected submitter whose submission material is released in the mediacontent may be paid $1,000 to $25,000, the top reward for the highestrated media content may be $1,000,000 or more. Provision for the nextthree highest rated contents may be given a trip or a smaller reward.After the payment module is initiated in step 542 for paying theselected and highly rated submitters, the content is archived in step544 for internal creator purposes such as reruns, for example. If thecontent is re-released, such as the case of reruns, the selectedsubmitters whose material is contained within the media content may bepayed or otherwise rewarded, if this right has not been relinquishedpreviously by the disclaimer or other agreements, as determined betweenthe creator or third party and the selected submitters.

Instead of an interactive format, in step 546 the submitter may choosean open content submission format. Once again, in step 548, allcommunications and submissions are encrypted for authorization andsecurity purposes. In step 550, the end user submitter is automaticallyentered into a contest when making submissions in an open format. Theopen content submission format includes the submission of ideas,stories, music, lyrics, scripts, manuscripts, screenplays, digitalphotographs, etc. which cannot be submitted in an interactive format,step 552. In order to enter the open format, the end user may berequired to pay a fee for entering the submission contents, step 554.

In step 556, the end user submitter receives a pre-determined number ofpoints to enter sweepstakes or purchase awards, as described above andmore fully described in FIG. 13. In step 558, the submission content isthen transmitted to the central controller 200 and stored.

The end user submitter, in step 560, can be given information regardingcopyright, trademark and patent services. The creator may have thecapabilities of offering such services to the submitter in order toprotect the submitter's material, as more fully described in FIG. 12. Instep 562, the end user submitter is also given the option of placing thesubmission material on an open exchange for access to third partiesinterested in acquiring such material. In step 564, the submitter mayplace an opening bid or initial offer on the submission content materialso that he or she is guaranteed that amount of compensation.

Although the submissions are encrypted and otherwise protected fromaccess and theft, the submitter may purchase protection insurancethrough the open exchange so that the open exchange, instead of theindividual submitter, will prosecute thefts of submission materials bythird parties. Due to the electronic tracking of the submissions, thethird party who has accessed and copied the submission material shouldbe readily ascertained. The pooling by the many submitters whoparticipate in the insurance program give the open exchange theresources to find and prosecute those third parties who are able tosteal submission material.

In step 568, the submitter may check the status of the submission at anytime after transmission to the central controller 200 as describedabove. Once the submission is received and stored, the creator in step570 can search the submission content databases for desired content.Once the creator in step 572 has selected a content submission, across-check process is initiated, step 574. Once the submission isconfirmed as being original or sent before other similar submissions inthe cross-checking process of step 574, the creator notifies thesubmitter that his or her submission has been selected at step 576. Thecreator in step 578 continues communication with the submitter forcontent development and adaptation. The content development may includeone or more submissions and/or data from interactive features accordingto step 526. In step 528, the submitter or submitters may, inconjunction with the efforts of the creator, contribute to thedevelopment, story line and/or outcome.

Once the development and adaptation process is completed, step 530, thecontent is released to the audience for review per step 532. Thesubmitters whose material was selected and used in the released contentis given credit in step 534. The selected submitters are also preferablyrewarded with cash or other prize awards. The audience then has theopportunity in step 536 to vote for and rate the released content. Forexample, for each television episode the audience may rate it on a scalefrom 1 to 10. This ranking is preferably conducted through the Internetbut may also be done through telephone or mail-in ballots. At the end ofthe season the audience can select or rate their favorite episode of theseason. In steps 538 and 540, the highest rated concept submittersreceive rewards in the form of credit payment, cash or other rewards asdescribed above. After the payment module is initiated in step 542 forpaying the selected and highly rated submitters, the content is archivedin step 544 for internal creator purposes such as reruns, for example,before ending the process 580. Payment for the re-release may be made asdescribed above.

While the steps in the process of the invention have been generallydiscussed above, subroutines and particular processes of the inventionare more fully described in detail in the following description.

Registration

Upon interfacing with the creator's networked central controller 200 atstep 602, the system queries whether the end user is registered, step604. If the end user is not registered, the system in step 606 asks theend user whether he or she would like to become a member. If the enduser desires to become a member, at step 608 the end user is promptedfor personal information. These prompts may be in the form of graphicuser interface windows in which the end user enters information beforeproceeding to the next window, as is well known in the art. Registrationwill typically comprise granting of general background information onthe submitter including, name, address, phone #, e-mail address, age,gender, marital status, employment, income, and the like. The user instep 610 is then either assigned or allowed to select an ID. Aninstructional page is presented to the end user in step 612, whichincludes information regarding the parameters and rules of being amember. As part of the registration process the user must agree to adisclaimer, giving up all rights to the idea and/or allowing the creatorto use the submitted material for its purposes, among other things. Theend user/submitter will also be asked to acknowledge that he or she hasread the instructional page. Disclaimers may be conducted by electronicsubmission, electronic mail or through paper mail. If either the enduser declines to agree with the disclaimer in step 614 or otherwisedecides not to become a member, the process is ended at step 616. If, onthe other hand, the end user decides to become a member and agrees tothe disclaimer, the end user then selects a submission format in step618 before submitting media material and ideas. The registration processat step 620 is then ended.

If the end user interfacing with the system is already registered, he orshe may be asked to reaffirm an instructional page disclaimer at step622. In response, the end user provides his or her ID at step 624 beforeproceeding to the submission format selection at step 618.

Requests and Submissions

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8A-8B, requests may be made eitherasynchronously as described in FIG. 7 or synchronously as described inFIGS. 8A and 8B. At step 700, an asynchronous request is made fromeither a creator or a third party end user via the open exchange asdescribed in detail below. At steps 710 through 740, the requesterdetermines which medium to use for the asynchronous request. In thepreferred embodiment, as shown in step 710 a web site, interactivetelevision, etc. are used. In step 720 e-mail is the asynchronouscommunication method of preference. Step 730 mailed-requests, and step740 telephone, IVRU (Interactive Voice Response Unite), etc. are othersample asynchronous communications methods that are both very applicableand suitable to the present invention. Others such as fax, beeper,pager, radio, television broadcast, or any other developing or futureform of communications, etc. also apply. Alternatively, any combinationof the above mentioned may also apply. For example, a message might besent to a member's beeper, telling him/her to check his/her e-mail forthe complete request. One exemplary object of the present invention isthe delivery of requests for content material, which in turn results incorresponding content material submissions. The communications method ismerely the delivery mechanism and is secondary to the object of creatingnetwork/people driven multi-media.

At step 750, the member and/or potential submitter must provide an IDnumber and/or password to respond to the content material request, whichapplies to any selected channel of communication. In step 760, theactual request is made from a creator or third party end user, and if acorresponding submission is made, it is presented at step 770. Thesubmission can also be presented in an open format, step 780, beforeending the process 790.

FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate synchronous content material request byeither creators or third party end users via the open exchange. Thereare several embodiments for synchronous communications that may apply toany form of synchronous communications contained in the presentinvention: one creator or third party end user to one end user (endusers in this reference may be people, members, or submitters); onecreator or third party end user to many end users; many creators orthird party end users to one end user; and many creators or third partyend users to many end users. Although protocols will be described indetail for one creator or third party end user to one end usercommunications, those skilled in the art will appreciate that theseprotocols may be applied to all four embodiments.

In the described embodiment, the creator or third party end user and theend user may exchange in a series of content material requests and/orsubmissions using a one-to-one synchronous communications channel suchas telephone, real-time text messaging or video conferencing. Thecreator or third party end user can request a synchronous communicationchannel when he/she makes his/her initial content material request usingany of the embodiments of the present invention including theasynchronous communications embodiment and the interactive synchronousembodiment.

Although many synchronous communications channels may be used, in thisembodiment an online messaging system is described which uses a standardonline service to provide the real-time text-based communications linkbetween the creator or third party end user and the end user.Preferably, a continuous communications channel is established betweenthe creator or third party end user and end user using a message window.The Message window is a text-based computer “window” displayed on videomonitor 430 of interface architecture 400, in this case both or manyhaving access to interface architecture 400. The creator or third partyend user types requests directly to message window which appears onvideo monitor 430. Simultaneously, the end user, which once again may bepeople, members or submitters, sees the request on his/her video monitor430, and vice versa. The requests and submissions may take the form of atrue request, questions and answers, comments, feedback, ideas, stories,written materials, etc. any form to present content materials.

Referring now to FIGS. 8A and 8B, there is shown how end users accessthe message window. At step 800, an end user whom may or may not be amember connects to an online service. Examples of online servicesinclude, American Online, Compuserve, the Microsoft Network, Netzero, oreven BBS, etc. The online service, however, only acts as the interfacefor the present invention. Control of end user, creator, or third partaccess, searches, billing and payment, and other function resides at thecentral controller 200. Online services act merely as a convenientconduit for synchronous communications given their ability to handletens of thousands of simultaneous communications. In another embodiment,central controller 200 handles all synchronous connections directly,eliminating the need for online networks. At step 810, a communicationschannel is opened between central controller 200 and the online service.The communications channel is a direct electronic link such as a circuitswitch or packet switched network connection. Once the connection hasbeen made the end user provides his/her ID number at step 820 to gainaccess to the network. If the end user is a non-member, he/she may beginthe registration process beginning at step 600.

After the end user has been authorized to enter the system, he/sheselects an interactive feature at step 830 to participate synchronouslywith a creator or third party end user to submit content material. Oncea feature is selected, central controller 200 assigns message window 840to the end user. The end user may be required to provide a password tocentral controller 200 prior to gaining admittance to message window840. If additional security is required, the end user, creator, thirdparty end user or whom ever is entering the message window at the timemay be required to produce a password and/or submit to a challenge/replyprotocol in which he/she must produce a piece of information known onlyto that person, such as his/her mother's maiden name or his/her socialsecurity number. If an interactive feature is not live, the end user mayhave the option of having the central controller 200 send a message to acreator or third party end user (via e-mail, fax, telephone, beeper,etc.) stating the online session is available at step 850. If centralcontroller 200 does not receive a response within a predetermined timecentral controller 200 sends a message to the end user and allowshim/her to select another interactive feature. Anytime a end user/memberenters a message window the central controller maintains a log of whomentered, the date, the time and for how long.

To complete the synchronous communication link, at step 855 the creatoror third party end user also connects to an online service, which mightbe a direct link to central controller 200 or a similar online servicelike those previously mentioned. The online service or direct linkconnects the creator or third party end user to central controller 200at step 856. For security purposes, the creator or third party end usermust also provide an ID number and/or password at step 857. While onlyone creator or third party end user is represented by this description,there may be many depending on the application of the present inventionin order to facilitate the purpose of receiving content material. Theconnection now can be made with the end user/users.

Step 860 determines if the creator or third party end user will connectalone, possibly in an IM (Instant Message) situation or in a groupforum, known as a chartroom if the Internet is the chosen embodiment. Atstep 870, if the creator or third party end user is alone the creator orthird party end user enters the message window alone and beginscommunication at step 890. If the creator or third party end user is notalone, the creator or third party end user and the other people and/ormembers steps 881-885 enter the message window together, step 880, alongwith the end user just entering, step 886.

At step 890, communication begins, where end user/users type ideas,stories, comments, questions, etc. to respond to creators or third partyend users requests. End user/users may also communicate openly withoutregard to a specific request. In step 895, questions, ideas, andcomments are exchanged between the creator or third party end user andthe user/users for the purpose of receiving content material anddeveloping content. At step 896, the end user or users leave the messagewindow to conclude the synchronous communication module and the processends at step 898.

In an alternative embodiment, end users and creators or third party endusers can be connected directly using synchronous communicationschannels such as the telephone network. In this embodiment, the end usercalls central controller 200 and connects to the IVRU (Interactive VoiceResponse Unit). The end user is prompted to respond to requests similarto those described in the asynchronous content request of FIG. 7 andsynchronous content request of FIGS. 8A and 8B. The end user entershis/her ID, selects the subject, submission-type, and providescategorical information via the IVRU prompts, as more fully described inFIGS. 9A and 9B. Central controller 200 then automatically stores thecontent material made available for searches and/or directs the materialto the appropriate creators and/or third parties.

After a request has been made as described above and is received by anend user and/or member, the submission process begins. Content materialsubmissions may occur through either interactive feature, illustrated inFIG. 9, or the open content format, illustrated in FIGS. 10A and 10B.There might be other formats or methodologies not mentioned here butthat also apply. A fee may be required for content submissions,especially in the open content format, depending on the purpose of therequest and if the submission is a part of a contest format.

FIG. 9 illustrates content material submissions made through what arereferred to as interactive features, which include but are not limitedto the following: questions and answers, sentence or story completions,fill-in-the-blanks, multiple choice questions, polls, surveys, games,etc. or other unique features presented by creators or third party endusers. The preferred embodiment emphasis the electronic transfer andstorage of such content material.

Referring now to FIG. 9, the end user and/or member selects the mediumin which he/she is to submit content material at step 900. This may bein response to a request or just an open desire to participate. Just asthere are many way to make content material requests, there are manyways to make content material submissions, which are all appropriate andsuitable to the present invention. Steps 810 through 840 represent someof the practical methods currently available to submit content materialas presented in this invention. At step 810, web site, interactivetelevision, etc. represents methods in which content may be broadcast,and because these samples enable interaction they may also receive data,which in this case may take the form of content material submissions.Other not listed or evolving communications may also be represented bythis category. Because these media types enable menu displaycapabilities, end users at step 912 are able to select the interactivefeatures section of the web site or interactive television formatpresented, and henceforth the desired interactive feature. Depending onthe format, the end user and/or member may have to present an ID,password or other identification information at step 914, eitherimmediately after arriving at the interactive features menu or afterselecting a desired feature. If the end user is a non-member, he/she maybegin the registration process beginning at step 600.

At step 920, electronic mail submissions will typically result from endusers responding to e-mailed content material requests. However, opencontent material responses may also be accepted if they apply or arerelevant to interactive features presented by creators and/or thirdparty end users as illustrated in FIGS. 10A and 10B. At step 922, an enduser looking to participate in an electronic mailed interactive featurecan do so by replying to the e-mail, which is standard protocol on theInternet and well known in the art. If the end user is a member he/shewill be asked to provide an ID at step 924, otherwise non-members maybegin the registration process beginning at step 600.

At step 930, mailed submissions are covered wherein the end userreceives an interactive feature content request or requests and respondsaccordingly through the mail. At step 932, he/she selects the desiredfeature in which to participate and at step 934 he/she may be requiredto provide ID or register as previously mentioned.

Step 940 is similar, but the communications medium for the submission isthe telephone or an IVRU (Interactive Voice Response Unit). At step 942,the end user listens to the interactive features menu and selects one ormore than one to make a content material submission. Once again ID isrequired at step 944, and registration may also be needed. While thesementioned are some of the content material submission methods, there maybe many more that also come under the application of the presentinvention.

Regardless of the selected submission medium, at step 950 the end usermust complete and respond to the selected interactive feature orfeatures in order to make a content material submission. At step 955, ifthe submission is made over the Internet it is encrypted forauthentication and security. At step 960, the submitter for his/herparticipation receives a pre-determined number of points towardssweepstakes entries and cash and/or merchandise awards as discussed inmore detail below. At step 970, based on the type of interactive featurepresented, the submitter may be limited to the number of responses perfeature. Those limits will be disclosed prior to participation. Once asubmitter completes and interactive feature, they may select anotherfeature at step 980 before ending the process at 990.

As shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the content material can also besubmitted through the open content format. The procedures areessentially the same, but the open application enables the contentmaterial to be presented in either an existing multi-media format or anysuch method that best suites the interests and objectives of thesubmitter. End users may either openly submit content material orrespond to specific requests made from creators or third party endusers. Some of the formats that apply to the open application include,but are not limited to the following: movies, screenplays, televisionscripts, book manuscripts, plays, music, music lyrics, newspaper andmagazine articles, comic stripes, sweepstakes, print media likecalendars, greeting cards, novelty items, digital photographs, etc. aswell as any other form of literary work or idea that might benon-protectable or protectable through either copyright, trademark, orpatent rights. The preferred embodiment emphasis the electronic transferand storage of such content material.

Referring now to FIGS. 10A and 10B, the end user selects a medium totransfer content material through the open content format at step 1000.The preferred transfer mediums for the open content format remain thesame as described above for the interactive format. At step 1010, theend user selects to transfer content material via a web site,interactive television, etc. At steps 1011 and 1012, the end userselects the open content submission section of the selected format andthen provides his/her ID and/or password, respectively. Depending onwhether the end user is a member, registration may be required. At step1013, because the content material is presented through an open format,the material must be given a title if it applies as well as categoricalinformation to classify the submission, provide background data, conveythe intentions of the submitter, etc. At step 1014, the content materialis placed in a sessions variable to be stored and transmitted to thecentral controller 200. Additionally, in step 1015 a “cookie” with theend users information is written to the end users computer. The functionand application of “cookies” is well known to anyone of ordinary skillin the art. At step 1050, the content material is officially submittedvia an electronic transfer to central controller 200.

At step 1020, electronic mail is the selected medium to transfer an opencontent material submission. Preferably, this medium will be used inresponse to an electronic mailed request for open content material.However, an end user may freely submit open content material withoutregard to a specific request. In steps 1021 and 1022, the end userreplies to an electronic mail received open content request, andprovides his/her ID and/or password, respectively. Depending on whetherthe end user is a member, registration may be required. At step 1023,the material must be given a title if it applies as well as categoricalinformation to classify the submission as mentioned above and discussedin the received electronic mail. A “cookie” with the end usersinformation may also be written to the end users computer before beingsubmitted at step 1050.

At step 1030, mail or shipping is the selected medium to submit opencontent material. The end user submitter may either respond to a papermailed request or freely submit open content material without regard toa specific request. At step 1031, the end user may have to providerequired information including ID, and registration may be required. Atstep 1032, the end user packages the media content material, literarywork, video tapes, art work, pictures, music, lyrics, or any other mediaform that may be mailed or shipped, etc. At step 1033, the end user mustpresent a title to the submission material if it applies as well ascategorical information as mentioned above. Accordingly, at step 1034the end user mails or ships the content material to a specified addressas a means of submitting the material per step 1050.

At step 1040, like the alternative request embodiment aforementioned,content material submissions may also be received through the telephone,IVRU (Interactive Voice Response Unite), etc. The process is similar,but end user submitters are specifically using the medium to submitmaterials either in response to creator or third party end user requestsor on their own accord to make an open content material submission. Atsteps 1041 and 1042, the processes are the same as the other opencontent submission mediums, the end user provides both an ID numberand/or password as well as a title and categorical information asrequested, respectively. At step 1043, the end user is prompted torecite the submission either to a live person or an IVRU. All of thenecessary prompts are given to complete the process for submission, step1050.

Regardless of which transfer medium is selected, the content material issubmitted at step 1050. In the preferred embodiment, the contentmaterial is electronically stored in files and transferred via theInternet through the network method and apparatus previously discussed.If the Internet is the transfer medium the material is encrypted forauthentication and security. At step 1060, confirmation is made with thesubmitter and the network to confirm the receipt of the submission. Atstep 1070, the submitter for his/her participation receives apre-determined number of points towards sweepstakes entries, cash and/ormerchandise awards as discussed in more detail below, before ending theprocess at step 1080. Preferably, an algorithm is employed in order toprevent an end user from wrongfully acquiring points by submitting thesame submission to the creator over and over again. Such an algorithmpreferably includes a tracking mechanism which determines if the memberhas made a previous submission within the category, if a limit applies.This algorithm is particularly applicable to the interactive submissionswhere entering a form and re-sending the form is possible.

It is important to note that any combination of those previouslymentioned or not mentioned communication or transfer mediums may accountfor a request or submission of content material as described in thepresent invention.

Authentication and Security

Authentication of the member/submitter and creator or third party endusers typically involves checking the attached ID or name and comparingit with those stored in member/submitter database 255 and creator/thirdparty end user database 260. The network provides a self-policingservice to its members by prosecuting those found in violation, and ifsubmitters elect they can purchase a legal services insurance throughthe network, as described above, where for a small fee the network willprovide necessary legal protection and recourse which is particularlyapplicable to the open exchange described below.

The self-policing function is facilitated by the sophisticatedcapabilities of the modern day electronic network. The network willtrack and maintain an electronic paper trail of anyone who interfaceswith the network whether it's an end user, member, submitter, creator,third party end user, employee, hacker, etc. The electronic paper trailwill include such data as who or whom made submissions, requests, openedand closed files, applied for registration, and the like as well asdates, times and if applicable reasons for such actions. For example,creators and third party end users will have to electronically documentboth their reason for opening a file, and if they intend any furtheraction with the content material. The data compiled for the electronicpaper trail will be processed through central controller 200 and themajority of it stored in audit database 305. Therefore, if a submitterclaims someone inappropriately used his/her content material, thenetwork can electronically track who opened the file and his/her reasonsfor doing so. Tracking end users actions is well known in the art, so adetailed description of its functionality is not needed.

Moreover, content material stored in content database 275 cannot beprinted at interface architecture 400 by anyone who happens to join thenetwork, unless otherwise authorized. Submitters will be able to legallyprotect content material through a Copyright, Trademark, and Patentservice link illustrated in FIGS. 12A and 12B via interface architecture400, eliminating much of the concern of presenting content material on anetwork.

Although the above described procedure works well for normal submissionand creator selection operations of the invention which are in a lowsecurity environment, the security can be significantly improved ifnecessary (as in the case of the open exchange where there is concern oftheft of the submission material or circumvention of the system) throughthe use of cryptographic techniques. These techniques not only enhancethe ability to authenticate the sender of a message, but also serve toverify the integrity of the message itself, proving that it has not beenaltered during transmission. Encryption can also prevent eavesdroppersfrom learning the contents of the message. Such techniques shall bereferred to generally as cryptographic assurance methods, and caninclude the use of both symmetric and asymmetric keys as well as digitalsignatures and/or hash algorithms.

The practice of using cryptographic protocols to ensure the authenticityof senders as well as the integrity of messages is well known in the artand need not be described here in detail. For reference, one of ordinaryskill in the art may refer to Bruce Schneier, Applied Cryptography,Protocols, Algorithms, And Source Code In C, (2d Ed, John Wiley & Sons,Inc., 1996).

FIG. 11 describes a symmetric key embodiment in which the submitter andcentral controller share a key. Thus both encryption and decryption ofsubmissions are performed with the same key. This encryption may beimplemented with an algorithm such as DES (U.S. Government standard,specified in FIPS PUB 46), or with any of several algorithms known inthe art such as IDEA, Blowfish, RC4, RC2, SAFER, etc. The submitterencrypts content material with his assigned symmetric key at step 1100,using cryptographic processor 435 of interface architecture 400. The keymay be stored in information storage 470 or otherwise stored ormemorized by the submitter. The encrypted content material is thentransmitted to cryptographic processor 210 of central controller 200 atstep 1110. Cryptographic processor 210 extracts the submitter ID fromthe message at step 1120 and looks up the symmetric key of the submitterin cryptographic key database 290 at step 1130, decrypting contentsubmission material with this key at step 1140. Cryptographic keydatabase 290 contains algorithms and keys for encrypting, decryptingand/or authenticating messages. At step 1150, if the resulting messageis intelligible, then it must have been encrypted by the same key,authenticating that the submitter must have indeed been the author ofcontent material.

This procedure makes it significantly more difficult for an attacker torepresent himself as a submitter. Without cryptographic procedures, anattacker who obtained sample content material from a given submitterwould be able to extract the submitter's ID and then attach this IDnumber to any of the attacker's content material. When the message hasbeen encrypted with a symmetric key, however, an attacker obtainingsample content material only discovers the submitter's ID number, notthe symmetric key. Without this key, the attacker cannot create contentmaterial that will not be discovered by central controller 200, since hecannot encrypt his message in the same way that the authentic submittercould. The symmetric key protocol also ensures that the message has notbeen tampered with during transmission, since alteration of the messagerequires knowledge of the symmetric key. An encrypted creator or thirdparty end user content material request also provides the creator orthird party end user with more anonymity.

While step of encrypting IDs and/or passwords may not be illustrated inevery figure, its inclusion is applied to the invention as deemednecessary to ensure greater authentication and security and to preventthe circumventing of the network. The symmetric key protocol is oneexemplary sample of an authentication and security technique, and thereare many more that perform essentially the same function. For example,those know to the art may include, but are not limited to, thefollowing: an asymmetric key protocol with two such algorithms or theprocedure—RSA and DSA; a cryptographic technique using digitalsignatures with one such algorithm—DSA (Digital Signature Algorithm);and biometric devices such as a fingerprint reader, voice recognitionsystem, retinal scanner and the like.

Intellectual Property Protection Information and Services

Referring to FIGS. 12A and 12B, after the end user submits the mediacontent material at step 1202, the submitter is queried whether he orshe would like information on the available legal protection for thesubmission at step 1204. If the submitter is interested in suchservices, a copyright, trademark and patent (CTP) service link isinitiated at step 1206. The CTP service link provides instruction,document procurement and legal assistance to the submitter, step 1208.

The service will determine if the submitted content is legallyprotectable at step 1210. If it is not, the submitter is notified thatthe material has been rejected and most likely not protectable,preferably electronically such as by e-mail, at step 1212 before endingthe process at step 1214.

If it is determined that the submitted content may be the subject ofintellectual property protection, the content submitter is directed tothe appropriate protectable rights link at step 1216. These linksinclude the copyright link at step 1218 which may provide a hyperlink tothe United States Copyright Office, forms for downloading or provisionof information upon which the service can file for copyrightregistration. Links to law firms in the submitter's geographic areawhich specialize in intellectual property and copyright issues can alsobe provided. In addition, at step 1220 the submitted content can bearchived and the author's personal information and date of submissionlogged for future reference in the event the author must prove that heor she was the first and original creator of the submitted work.

If the submitted content is determined to be the subject of a trademarkor the like, at step 1222 the submitter is linked to an appropriatetrademark link. Appropriate trademark assistance and documentprocurement for the preparation of trademark filings within the UnitedStates Patent and Trademark Office can be obtained or informationrequested for the preparation of such documents at step 1224 beforeactually filing the appropriate documents and applications at step 1226.Hyperlinks can be provided the submitter to Internet sites such as theUnited States Patent and Trademark Office and local law firms if theservice does not prepare such documents and filing papers.

If the submitted material is deemed to be patentable, the submitter istransferred to a patent link at step 1228 where information anddocuments regarding patents are provided at step 1230. Hyperlinks canalso be provided to the United States Patent and Trademark Office orother pertinent sites. If the service has the capabilities and personnelto prepare and file patents for the submitter, the necessarycommunication and information is given and the service preparesnecessary documents and applications and submits the same to the UnitedStates Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) at step 1232. In any event,after providing the information and/or services to the submitter, anappropriate billing/payment module is initiated at step 1234, as morefully discussed herein. At step 1236, the appropriate legal protectionhas been applied for or provided before ending the process at step 1238.

The Points Award Program

Computerized marketplaces of all kinds are well known in the art. Today,all modern stock, bond, and commodity exchanges are supported byunderlying computerized databases and related systems that enable themto function. Typically, electronic exchanges are designed to facilitatecommercial transactions or tokens of ownership, such as shares of stock,or physical objects such as ounces of gold or a used car. Otherexchanges specialize in the sale of information such as that provided byLexis/Nexis, where users pay fees for access to information or therights to information, as described in the present invention. While intheory electronic exchanges intend to provide supplemental services toexisting marketplaces, most of them never last long enough to addmeaningful value to their existence. Most exchanges fail because theirunable to motivate significant numbers of both buyers and sellers to usethe exchange versus other available market alternatives.

Realizing the shortcomings of the prior art, the present inventionincludes a number of unique and effective measures to stimulate ongoinguser demand and participation. The hallmark of stimulating usership ofthe network and exchange described herein, is rooted in both a contestand points award system.

The Points System Awards Program is an incentive based campaign designedto both promote and stimulate ongoing usership and participation,regardless of whether the submitter has content material selected ornot. While it is the intention of every submitter to have contentmaterial submissions selected for multi-media use, there will be a largenumber of submissions that will never be used. This realization mightdiscourage membership participation, so in an effort to maintaininterest and enthusiasm, the present invention includes a points awardprogram for any level of participation with the network and/or the openexchange. Submitters will receive a pre-determined number of pointsdepending on their participation in either interactive features orsubmissions via the open content format.

The accumulated points may be used to purchase cash and/or merchandiseawards, and will serve as entries into daily, weekly, monthly, or annualsweepstakes. All of the points used as entries toward sweepstakes willbe subject to a daily limit, which will be reflected in a real-timepoints counter on the member's screen. Each member will be limited tothe number of entries they can accumulate per day; a limit must be setin order to comply with sweepstakes laws. Submitters may accumulatepoints after reaching the limit, which may be traded in forpre-determined awards. To accumulate points submitters must beregistered members of the network and/or exchange. There also may belimits to registration such as age and resident requirements. To beeligible to win the sweepstakes drawing, the submitter must only haveone account registered. Odds at winning sweepstakes drawings will dependon the number of entries submitted, and the number of entries collectedby other participants in the sweepstakes.

Entry forms may include but are not limited to, web site, electronicmail, mail-in, phone, IVRU, fax, beeper, and other data transfer methodsaccepted. Entry forms are based on submission forms, which have alreadybeen discussed in detail in other sections.

Sweepstakes winner must execute and return an affidavit, a liabilityrelease, and where lawful, a publicity release within seven days ofnotification. Failure to return documents timely, or if prizenotification or prize is returned as non-deliverable, may result indisqualification with and alternate winner selected.

As submitters click from page to page in the preferred embodiment, andparticipate in the interactive features or open content formats, thereal-time points counter will automatically update to reflect the newpoints that have been accumulated towards either the sweepstakesdrawings or the awards program.

Referring now to FIG. 13, an illustrative example of the points awardsprogram is illustrated. At step 1300, the end user and soon to besubmitter interacts with the network through either interactive featuresor submissions via the open content format. The submitter may interactwith the network through such mediums as those listed in steps 1305,1310, 1315, and 1320 web site, electronic mail, mail-submission, andphone, IVRU, etc., respectively. These examples are just illustrative innature, there may be other communication methods as well and they mayalso apply. The preferred embodiment, however, for the present inventionis the Internet as has been previously described. At step 1330, the enduser or submitter's participation is tracked through all of the mediumsdescribed. At step 1340, points are logged at pre-determined rates basedon the level of participation with either interactive features orsubmissions via the open content format. Accordingly, at step 1350 theend user or submitter's points are transmitted to central controller200. At step 1360, the submitter's points are tallied and stored in theindividual account of the submitter in member/submitter database 255. Atstep 1370, the accumulated points of the submitter are displayed on areal-time online register. At step 1380, the points may be used asentries in daily, weekly, monthly, or annual sweepstakes. Additionally,the points may also be redeemed for cash and/or merchandise awards asdescribed in step 1390 before the process ends at step 1392.

Submission Status Check

With reference to FIG. 14, the end user can check the status of his orher submission at any time after transmitting it to the creator centralcontroller 200, steps 1402 and 1404. Once the submitter wants to inquireinto the status of the submission, step 1406, he or she preferablyinterfaces with the creator website, or alternatively calls aninteractive voice response unit system or the like, step 1408. At step1410, the submitter selects the status check feature after interfacingwith the system and then provides his or her ID number, step 1412.

Instructional pages explaining the status categories are given at step1414 and the status of the submission is listed at step 1416.Preferably, the status categories are developed and written by a legaldepartment to prevent any potential liability to the creator and itsservice. The submitter then leaves the status feature at step 1418 orrepeats the process if he or she has transmitted more than onesubmission at step 1420 before ending the process at step 1422.

Search, Selection and Cross-Check

One of the most pervasive objects of the present invention is to expandthe creative reference for multi-media content development to a worldwide application via the Internet, as described in the preferredembodiment. The method and apparatus described herein purports theutilization of an electronic network to produce network-driven orpeople-driven content and the cornerstone of that network is the search,selection and cross-check process used by the creator or third party enduser receiving the submissions. The process of searching and findingdesirable content material has been greatly enhanced by thesophisticated topic spotting and other searching capabilities madeavailable today, such as those presented in the following patents: U.S.Pat. No. 5,826,260 to Byrd, Jr. et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,221 toChristy; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,053 to Pant et al. (all of which arehereby incorporated by reference).

The search, selection and cross-check process is available via thenetwork to both creators and/or third party end users with possiblealternative embodiments to meet the requirements of specific searchrequests. Those connected to the network will have advantages neverbefore experienced in the world of multi-media due to the link with aninfinite number of resources and end users made available through theInternet. For the first time, creators and/or third party end users willbe able to elicit an unlimited network of ideas, real life experiences,literary works, music, video and other forms of multi-media contentmaterial. The object of the interactive content development process isto expand the creative frame of reference to develop more creative anddynamic forms of multi-media content.

The interactive environment will also enable creators and/or third partyend users the ability to survey end users opinions and insights to thedirection of content development as well as the outcome to particularcontent releases. Either way, the ability to utilize selected contentmaterial is made available through the both solutions and efficienciesof the search, selection and cross-check process and the methods andtechnologies described herein.

The search, selection, and cross-check process begins after contentmaterial is stored in content database 275, either the submitter mighthave forfeited the rights to the content if it was submitted as a partof a contest or the rights might be sold through the open exchangeembodiment. The content material may be filtered, either upon arrival orat a designated time interval, based on key words in the title and/ortext as well as categorical information supplied by the submitter. Thesearch and cross-check systems may include, but are not limited to thefollowing types of searches: pre-selected and open searches.

Pre-selected searches have a filtering mechanism which attempts todetermine the best possible creator or third party end user for thesubmitted content material based on topical information gleaned from thetitle, text, or categorical information supplied by the submitter. Thecriteria for the filter would be provided beforehand by the creatorand/or third party end user. The content material is then automaticallydirected to the appropriate creator and/or third party end user.Electronic mail filters would be the preferred embodiment for thepre-selected search process, which are well know in the art. In additionto e-mail, there are many alternative pre-selected search techniques,which may serve the purpose of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 15, this illustrative example demonstrates a preferredform of the pre-selected search process. At step 1500, the creator orthird party end user selects the pre-qualifying search criteria method,which may include but are not limited to the following samples, keyword,boolean, string, etc. listed in steps 1510, 1520 and 1530, respectively.After selecting a method, the creator or third party end user selectsthe criteria for the filtering process and enters it based on the rulesof the search type at step 1540. The selected search criteria istransmitted to central controller 200 at step 1550. If filtering is donesolely on topical information supplied by the submitter, the centralcontroller 200 can direct the categorically identified content materialutilizing content database 275 and subject database 280 to theappropriate creator or third party end user. At step 1560, centralcontroller 200 creates an electronic filter base on the criteriasubmitted by the creator and/or third party end user. After the filteris set, any incoming content material is filtered and redirectedautomatically to the appropriate creator or third party end user at step1570. At step 1580, the content material is stored in the appropriatefile of the creator and/or third party end user in creator or thirdparty end user database 260, 270. The stored content material is thenreviewed, with additional electronic search measures if necessary, bythe creator and/or third party end user at step 1590, and desiredcontent material is selected before ending the process at step 1592. Thecreator and/or third party may utilize a bookmarking scheme fordesignating submissions into categories of interest or topics. Thus,when re-searching the submissions, these materials can be more easilyaccessed. The searches can also be tagged with a “live or die” functionso that after a pre-determined period of time has elapsed, the searchdoes not accept any additional submission materials. This would behelpful, for example, when a contest for submission material has adefined time limit for entries. This can also be helpful when meeting adeadline for content release.

The second search type discussed is open searches, which are performedin the same manner someone online visits one of the major search enginessuch as American Online, Yahoo, Alta Vista, Lycos, Ask Jeeves, etc. tosearch for specific topical information. The process is essentially thesame but the creator and/or third party end user is conducting thesearch for the purpose of finding appealing content material to developmulti-media. The searches might be purely random, where the creator orthird party end user is just screening submissions vicariously, or thesearches might be more advanced with more specific topical categoriesbeing targeted. In the preferred embodiment, open searches andpre-selected searches will be performed by a sophisticated text parsingtechnology, which are well known in the art, that scans the text andconducts an electronic comparison to determine if the content materialmeets the conditions of the criteria provided. In essence, the opensearch process utilized in the present invention is analogous to one ofthe major search engines, which are commonly known in the art.

Referring to FIG. 16, this illustrative example demonstrates a form ofthe open search process. At step 1600, the creator and/or third partyend user selects whether they would like to conduct a search of aparticular content database 275 or all or the content databases in datastorage device 250. At step 1610, the creator and/or third party enduser pre-selects a content database 275 or topical category to conduct asearch, or alternatively at step 1620, all of the content databases areselected in storage device 250 to conduct a search. Once the area of thesearch is selected, the creator and/or third party end user must selectthe search type method at step 1630, which may include but are notlimited to the following samples, keyword, boolean, string, etc. listedin steps 1635, 1640 and 1645, respectively. After selecting a method,the creator and/or third party end user selects the criteria for thesearch and enters it based on the rules of the search type at step 1650.Accordingly, at step 1660 the search criteria is transmitted to centralcontroller 200. At step 1670, central controller 200 creates anelectronic filter base on the criteria submitted by the creator and/orthird party end user. The resulting submissions meeting the requirementsof the electronic filter are subsequently transmitted back to thecreator and/or third party end user, where desired content material canbe selected. After finding the desired material based upon the search,the creator and/or third party selects that material, by downloading orotherwise, for use before ending the process at step 1690.

While the search types which have been discussed are used to demonstratethe searching functionality of the search and selection process, thereare many other search applications known in the art or that are beingdeveloped and they may also apply to the present invention. Moreimportantly, the search types ultimately used might be usedindependently, in tandem, reverse order or in any combination thatsatisfies the searching needs and objectives of the creator and/or thirdparty end user. For example, referring to the previously discussedsample search types, the creator and/or third party end user might electthe pre-selected search function to receive content material in aparticular topical category, and then after receiving the filteredcontent material, he/she might perform an open search to narrow theviewed submissions even further. In an alternative embodiment, thecreator or third party end user might not elect to receive pre-filteredcontent material as performed in a pre-selected search, electing insteadto just use the open search type to find desired content material. Thesearch order and use is entirely up to the creator and/or third partyend user. Of course, the order or method of searching is not asimportant as the ability to retrieve desired submission material whichis a paramount function of the present invention.

After content material has been selected as a part of the contest, asdescribed above, it is then preferably cross-checked for originality andtimeliness. The cross-checking process provides a methodology forcreators and/or third party end users to isolate the differences, nomatter how fractional, between similar content material submissions. Thecross-checking process may be performed with a search system like thosepreviously discussed, in which an electronic text parser scans the textand performs a comparative analysis, or the like, to identify thedistinctiveness of the content material in relationship to others in itscategory. Electronic text parsers, also used in the search embodiment,are a well know art form most often found in major search engines likesome of those previously mentioned. In alternative embodiments, thisprocess could also be performed manually although such a process is notpreferred for obvious reasons.

The cross-check process is vital to contest formats, because in cases ofidentical or very similar content material submissions, the creatorand/or third party end user may need to identify and award the earliestsubmission date. This is facilitated by an electronic time stamp thatrecords the date and time of each submission, which is stored along withthe content material in content database 275. Audit database 305 mayalso be used to store data for this function as well. It is important tonote, the issue of submission dates most often applies to contentmaterial submitted in a contest format, where conditions apply. Thesignificance of dates might also depend on whether the submission wasmade in either the interactive feature format or the open contentformat. Third party end users might select content material at their owndiscretion without regard to dates or content material similarities,unless, of course, their content material requests include some form ofcontest giving preference to submission dates.

Referring to FIG. 17, at step 1700 the cross-check process begins afterthe creator and/or third party end user makes a content materialselection, and conditions of the selection process require a cross-checkprocedure. At step 1710, the content material is checked against similarcontent material in its topical category either manually and/orelectronically. At step 1720, it is determined either manually and/orelectronically whether the content material is similar enough to othersubmissions to deem further review. At step 1730, if the answer is no,the cross-check procedure is complete and the submitter's submission isselected and awarded accordingly. If the content material is deemedsimilar, then step 1740 tries to determine, once again either manuallyand/or preferably electronically, if there are any discernibledifferences. If there are, then the differences are documented andstored in audit database 305 at step 1750. If there are no discernibledifferences then submissions are considered identical, at step 1760,central controller 200 extracts data from content database 275 andcompares the dates of the similar submissions. At step 1770, thesubmission with the earliest submission date is selected and awardedaccordingly based on the rules and conditions of the contest, before theprocess ends at step 1780.

In the prior art, there have been many drawbacks to the submissions ofprotectable or non-protectable content material to a network orexchange. The issue of idea pilferage has been the greatest concern, butthe solutions presented in the search, selection and cross-checkembodiment make the submission of one's ideas or content material, asimple, convenient, and secure transaction.

Referring now to FIG. 18, after the creator has selected submissionmaterial and cross-checked the submission at steps 1810 and 1820, thecreator notifies the submitter at step 1830. This can occurasynchronously by e-mail, fax, letters, etc. or synchronously by instantmessage, PCS, telephone or video conference, etc. as shown in steps 1835and 1840, respectively. Confirmation of the selection and notificationis made at step 1850. The creator typically continues periodiccommunication with the submitter, step 1860, in order to complete theadaptation of the content. Accordingly, at step 1865, the submitter maycontinue contribution of ideas and material in order to develop thecontent, such as the storyline or outcome. Once the creator hascompleted the adaptation of the media content, step 1870, the content isreleased, step 1880, and the process ends, step 1890.

The Contest System

A voting and/or rating system may also be instituted for contentreleases based on content material submissions made to the networkand/or open exchange, as described in the voting and rating embodiment.Creators and/or third party end users may incorporate the systems as anadded feature to their content releases. For example, at the end of aspecific time period, i.e. a season, or immediately after a contentrelease, the public and/or the network members, collectively theaudience, will have the opportunity to vote and/or rate their favoritecontent releases. This may apply to all content or multi-media formats.Voting and/or rating ballots may include but are not limited to thefollowing submission forms: web site, electronic mail, mail-submission,fax, phone, IVRU, and responses to print media like newspapers,magazines, etc. The voting system may be priority based, where thepublic and/or network members prioritize their favorite releases frommost favorite to least favorite, or as simple as vote for your favoritecontent release. The rating system most likely would be scale based,where parameters to rate content releases would be given. For example,immediately following a content release, the public and/or networkmembers would be given a scale from 1 to 10 to rate the content release,with 10 being the highest point value and 1 being the lowest pointvalue. Content releases are given a title and/or theme name so that thepublic and/or network members can identify them.

The intent behind the voting and/or rating systems is to reward thecontent material submitters of the highest rated content releases,providing an additional incentive for end users to participate in thenetwork. Rewards may come in the form of cash and/or merchandise awards.

FIG. 19 shows an illustrative example of the voting and/or ratingsystems used in accordance with the present invention. At step 1900, thepublic and/or network members select the medium in which to vote and/orrate content releases. The public and/or network members may submittheir ballots through those methods listed in steps 1905, 1910, and 1915web site, electronic mail, and phone, IVRU, etc., respectively. Theseexamples are just illustrative in nature, there may be othercommunication methods, such as mail in ballots or the like, as well andthey also apply. At step 1920, the public and/or network user membersselect whether they would like to vote on content releases in step 1930or rate content releases in step 1940. If the public and/or networkmembers elect to rate content releases, they move to step 1950, wherethey have typically just seen or heard the content release (for examplean episode of a television program using the present invention has justended) and are given the option to rate the release (on a scale of 1 to10, for example).

If, on the other hand, the public and/or network user members elect tovote on their favorite content releases, then they move to step 1960,where they are given the opportunity to review content releases by titleand/or theme name. At step 1970, the public and/or network members aregiven the option to vote on their favorite content releases, where, forexample, they may be able to prioritize by number their most favorite toleast favorite releases. Finally, at step 1980 the content materialsubmitters of the highest rated content releases are rewarded with cashand/or merchandise awards, as described above. The scores of the votingand/or rating systems may result in separate winners or be combinedusing a formula into a single contest with a single winner. The formatof the contest is entirely up to the creators or third party end users.

Agency and Sales Services

Ultimately, the network and/or exchange is designed around providingservices to members to both promote and protect content materialsubmissions like the Copyright, Trademark, and Patent service previouslymentioned. In conjunction with the protection advisory service, thenetwork and/or exchange can also provide agency and sales services,where a team of in-house agents work on behalf of members to promote,pitch, and sell content material submissions to all sectors of themulti-media world. The agents can continually target content materialsubmissions that would be considered appealing to certain sectors of themedia world, and then will pursue appropriate vendors to pitch, and sellthose selected concepts. This undoubtedly will create more demand forthe network and/or exchange, once again addressing one of the majorweakness in the prior art of exchanges. In addition, members will alsobe given the option of paying a fee based agency service in which theirspecific content material submissions will be given preference to a widerange of distribution and sales services. Obviously, there is aneconomies of scale to receiving agency and sales services on anexchange, where services can be provided more economically because ofthe pooling of member resources. Moreover, existing agency services aretypically only available to an elite few who have previous credits,which is a significant shortcoming in the art. Talent and productionshould be the overriding issue, which is one of the most pervasiveobjects of the present invention.

Media Submission Open Exchange

By making available content material submissions to third party endusers, the present invention provides a novel and efficient exchangenetwork for the development of all forms of multi-media. Network-drivenor people-driven forms of multi-media is a new art form for contentdevelopment that is facilitated through the limitless connections of theworld wide web and the electronic file transfer capabilities or the newera, which are emphasized in the preferred embodiment described above.Furthermore, new advanced search methods, as described above, improvesearch and selection capabilities to the level that creators or thirdparty end users can search and receive content material in a simple,cost and time effective manner.

It is the intention of the invention that in-house creators willstimulate the first layer of demand for content material and that theresulting onslaught of supply will henceforth create the demand fromthird party end users. Based upon the history of previous and existingexchanges, one of the most prevailing issues and weaknesses of the priorart is the creation of demand, which the present invention has botheffectively and successfully addressed through the desire of end usersto participate in the systems as well as through the points and awardssystems.

FIGS. 20A-20C illustrate the open exchange which can be incorporatedinto the present invention and the effective application of third partyend user purchases of exclusive rights or non-exclusive rights contentmaterial. In addition, to content databases being made available throughthe open exchange, third party end users may also make asynchronous orsynchronous content requests to end users. This is performed in the samefashion a creator makes a request as described above in FIGS. 7 and 8Aand 8B. Third party access enables an entirely new art form to developmulti-media content.

Referring to FIGS. 20A-20C, the third party end user arrives at theInternet location (web site) to search the media submission databasescreated from previously received submissions in accordance with theinvention at step 2000. Step 2005 determines whether the third party enduser is a member of the exchange, if so then he/she provides ID and/orpassword at step 2010. If not, the third party end user is required toregister at step 2015, agreeing to the rules and conditions of theexchange via an electronic initial, signature or the like. Preferably,the third party is provided an on-line agreement wherein the third partyagrees not to disclose or copy material from the open exchange nor toattempt to contact submitters directly without permission of thecreator-host.

The third party may also be required to pay a subscription fee at step2020. As a part of the registration process the third party end user isrequired to provide background data and select his/her ID and/orpassword at step 2022. Either way, the third party end user arrives atthe search engine feature of the media/content database at step 2025.

It is important to note, those participating in the exchange arenotified of that if a serious violation occurs, such as the utilizationof content material without proper consent, then serious prosecution mayresult initiated by both the exchange and/or the submitter, if thesubmitter decides to take individual action. The exchange will provide aself-policing service to its members for those found in violation, andif submitters elect they can purchase a legal services insurance throughthe exchange, where for a small fee the exchange will provide necessarylegal protection and recourse. The exchange facilitates an economicalform of legal protection because members pool their funds together in aninsurance fund, where quality legal services can be retained internallyor externally to protect their best interests. This is an advantage theexchange provides that individuals can not receive if they decides tosolicit their works on their own.

The exchanges' self-policing function is facilitated by thesophisticated capabilities of the modern day electronic network. Thenetwork will track and maintain an electronic paper trail of anyone whointerfaces with the network whether it's an end user, member, submitter,creator, third party end user, employee, hacker, etc. The electronicpaper trail will include such data as who or whom made submissions,requests, opened and closed files, applied for registration, and thelike as well as dates, times and if applicable reasons for such actions.For example, creators and third party end users will have toelectronically document both their reason for opening a file, and ifthey intend any further action with the content material. The datacompiled for the electronic paper trail will be processed throughcentral controller 200 and the majority of it stored in audit database305. Therefore, if a submitter claims someone inappropriately usedhis/her content material, the exchange can electronically track whetherthe accused person had opened the file and his/her reasons for doing so.Various other methods of tracking end users actions are also well knownin the art and can be implemented by the invention.

Moreover, content material stored in content database 275 cannot beprinted on interface architecture 400 by anyone adjoining the network,unless otherwise authorized. If content material is purchased by a thirdparty end user, they will receive a formal copy of the material afterpayment arrangement have been satisfied as described in the billing andpayment embodiment. Submitters will be able to legally protect contentmaterial through the Copyright, Trademark, and Patent service link viainterface architecture 400, eliminating much of the concern ofpresenting content material on a network.

At step 2030, the third party end user must select a search type whichmay include but are not limited to keyword, boolean, string, or any formappropriate to the application of the invention. At step 2035, after thesearch type is selected the search criteria must be enteredcorresponding to the rules of the search type. Step 2040 lists some ofthe content material forms including but not limited to ideas, stories,scripts, book manuscripts, videos, music, lyrics, digital photographs,etc. At step 2045, the search criteria is transmitted to centralcontroller 200. Central controller 200 responds by transmitting theresults of the search back to the third party end user at step 2050.

It is important to note that exclusive rights or non-exclusive rights inthe submitted content material may be indicated or an initial offer orminimum bid provided by submitter, step 2055. This is an option madeavailable to submitters at the time they decided to make their contentmaterial submissions available to the open exchange. Submission contentmaterial not made available to the open exchange is only made availableto the creators.

Step 2060, determines whether the third party end user is going to makea bid on any of the presented content material. If not, the third partymust elect to either perform another search to find desired contentmaterial at step 2065, or exit the open exchange at step 2070. If thedecision is to perform another search, than the third party end userreturns to step 2035, or step 2030 if he/she elects a different searchtype, and repeats the entire process over again.

If the third party end user elects to bid on selected content materialat step 2060, the bid is preferably encrypted for authentication andsecurity at step 2075, and then the bid is transmitted to centralcontroller 200 at step 2076. Central controller 200 then transmits thebid to the appropriate submitter at step 2080, where the bid is eitheraccepted or rejected at step 2090. In step 2085, contact information isnot included with either the submitted material nor the bid to avoidsubmitters or end users from circumventing the network. If the bid isrejected at step 2090, then a rejection message is transmitted tocentral controller 200, which may include a counter-offer or request fora higher bid from the submitter, and directed to the third party enduser at step 2092. The rejection or acceptance messages may also beencrypted for authentication and security. After receiving a rejectionmessage at step 2092, the third party end user may submit a higher bidat step 2094, and the process repeats itself.

If a submitter accepts a bid, the third party end user is notified viacentral controller 200 at step 2096. In step 2097, purchase rights maybe exclusive or non-exclusive based on the agreement between thesubmitter and the third party end user. After the agreement, theappropriate billing module is initiated based on the third party enduser's request at step 2098. Correspondingly, the appropriate paymentmodule is initiated based on the submitter's request at step 2099. Theexchange may be compensated for content transactions by eitherinternally taking a percentage of the accepted transaction price orattaching an additional fee or override to the offer price, all of whichwill be discussed in more detail below. These compensation methods aremeant to be merely illustrative, however, as there are many equivalentcompensation methods either internal or external commonly known in theart which may also be used.

By combining these various elements into an open exchange, the presentinvention makes finding, selling, purchasing, and utilizing contentmaterial fast, simple, and market efficient.

As mentioned previously, the present invention provides for theanonymity of both member/submitters and creators or third party endusers. Such anonymity is accomplished by eliminating all references tothe names of the individuals for all transactions. A creator or thirdparty end user, for example, would include his/her ID in a requestrather than his/her name, preventing the member/submitter receivingrequest from discovering the creator and/or third party end user'sidentity. In a similar manner, member/submitters may also want to keeptheir identity a secret.

This is especially vital in preventing third party end users fromcontacting submitters outside the system prior to a deal being reached.The third party end user may be prevented from seeing contactinformation such as phone number or location. If the third partyultimately does not bid on a submission, but is then discovered to havenegotiated an agreement with a submitter outside the system, he/she maybe charged a usage fee as a percentage of the total value of thenegotiated agreement, as agreed to by the third party end user whenentering into the initial agreement when registering with the network.

Although the use of ID numbers can provide anonymity, both formembers/submitters and creators or third party end users, there are anumber of potential weaknesses. First, if the database of ID numbers,stored in member/submitter database 255 or creator/third party end userdatabase 260, and their respective submitters/third party end users iscompromised, anonymity is destroyed since the message sender can belooked up in member/submitter database 255 or creator/third party enduser database 260. To prevent this, the ID numbers are encrypted withthe public key of central controller 200, so that even if it is stolenit is useless without the private key.

There is described a method to prevent this attack using an anonymousmix in U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,223 to Walker et al, (which is herebyincorporated by reference) which can be implemented in the presentinvention. Anonymous mix uses a protocol to make it very difficult foranyone to trace the path of a message, which passes through the mix.Anonymous mix takes electronic messages from central controller 200 andrandomly varies both the length of the messages as well as the timing ofits delivery. An incoming message of two hundred kilobytes, for example,might be expanded to three hundred kilobytes by adding random charactersat the end. An attacker would thus be unable to correlate (by length ofmessage) the outgoing messages with incoming messages, and vice versa.Furthermore, by adding a random time delay in the processing ofelectronic messages, central controller 200 also prevents an attackerfrom correlating (based on time) incoming messages with outgoingmessages.

By using a trusted third party and an anonymous mix, the identity ofmembers/submitters and creators or third party end users is preserved.Although we have described only one possible method for maintaininganonymity, there are other equivalents. For example, if the embodimentincluded telephone messaging, the identity of the submitter and thirdparty end user could be maintained using conventional voice modificationtechniques. If the request or the submission were in a paper form, theform could be scanned using optical character recognition and translatedinto digital form, discarding any information that could be found in theoriginal document. Anonymity may also serve to prevent a submitter andthird party end user from contacting each other outside the network inorder to ensure that payment is received for bringing the two partiestogether in the exchange. In this embodiment, central controller 200forces anonymity by blinding one or both parties. The third party enduser, for example, may not see the name of the submitter until after thepayment has been made.

The authentication and security measures described above take onparticular importance with the open exchange and not only may includepasswords, encryption, and the anonymous mix, but if deemed necessaryeven the institution of biometric devices for use between thecreator-host and third party.

Fingerprint verification, for example, may be executed before the thirdparty is allowed access to the network, in response to prompts fromcentral controller 200, at some predetermined or random times, orcontinuously by incorporating the scanning lens into the third party'sdevice.

An example of such an identification device is the FC 100 FINGERPRINTVERIFIER available from Startek, a Taiwanese company. The FC100 isreadily adaptable to any PC via an interface card. The fingerprintverifier utilizes an optical scanning lens. The submitter places his orher finger on the lens, and the resulting image is scanned, digitized,and the data compressed and stored in memory. Typically, a 256 byte fileis all that is required. Each live-scan fingerprint is compared againstthe previously enrolled/stored template, stored in interfacearchitecture 400. If the prints do not match, the cryptographicalgorithms in interface architecture 400 may prevent the third partyfrom searching for content material.

In a voice verification embodiment, the third party's voice is used toverify his identity. This embodiment has the advantage of not requiringthe use of any specialized hardware since it can be implemented over astandard phone connection. The third party's identity is verified atcentral computer 200. The process of obtaining a voice-print andsubsequently using it to verify a person's identity is well-known in theart, and therefore need not be described in detail herein. One ofordinary skill in the art may refer to SpeakEZ, Inc. for voiceidentification/verification technology. Conventional speakeridentification software samples the third party's voice. This sample isstored at central controller 200. Each time the third party wants tosend content material to central controller 200, he/she is required tocall central controller 200 and speak into the phone at the prompt for avoice sample. If this sample matches that stored in central controller200, the third party is allowed access to the open exchange.

Billing and Payment Processes

FIGS. 21-25 show exemplary payment and billing systems which can be usedwith the present invention. Third party end users are billed for contentmaterial submissions received, and submitters are compensated forcontent material produced and selected as described above. The systemcan even be set up so as to be capable of ensuring that submittersreceive payment for their work, whether or not the third party end userpays. This feature provides additional incentive for submitters toregister with the system, as the possibility of bad debt has beeneliminated since central controller 200 takes on the risk of notcollecting from third party end users. Third party end user invoicingand submitter payment is described using conventional credit cardelectronic charges, checks, Electronic Funds Transfer (“EFT”), ordigital cash. These payment methods are meant to be merely illustrative,however, as there are many equivalent payment methods commonly known inthe art which may also be used.

In FIG. 21, the billing process is initiated when central controller 200transmits the agreed upon price and tracking number of the submitter andthird party end user transaction to billing database 285, 290 at step2100. At step 2110, there are two billing protocols that can be used.The first, cash on delivery, requires that the third party end user paybefore receiving formal copy or the content material. The formal copymay be electronically mailed, postal mailed, shipped, etc. Once thesubmitter accepts the third party end user bid, the third party will nolonger have access to the selected content material in the contentdatabase 275. The second protocol is credit system in which the thirdparty end user pays at the end of the billing period. In the cash ondelivery protocol, billing processor 225 generates a bill prior tosending a copy of the formal content material to the third party enduser, proceeding immediately to step 2120.

One exemplary embodiment of a payment guarantee means of the presentinvention is described as follows. Central controller 200 requires theend user to prepay for at least part of the content being purchased,forcing the third party end user to keep a minimum balance of money inorder to be eligible to use the network. Central controller 200 thenautomatically deducts the price the content material from this escrowaccount before a formal copy of the content material is sent to thethird party end user. Transaction records and balance information isstored in billing database 285, 290. Rather than actually depositing themoney with central controller 200, the third party end user mightinstead be required to merely have sufficient credit available. A creditcard on file with central controller 200, for example, is checked beforethe third party end user is able to make a bid for content material. Ifsufficient credit remains in the account, the submitter is notified. Ifcredit available is not sufficient to cover the price of contentmaterial, the third party end user is required to provide another creditcard number. For EFT transfers, the third party end user's accountinformation is stored in billing database 285, 290 enabling centralcontroller 200 to check the account balance before the biding processcan be initiated.

In a credit protocol, processor 225 searches billing database 285, 290by third party end user ID at the end of each billing period and totalsthe amount owed by each third party end user. It should be noted that inthis credit protocol, while the third party does not pay until the endof the billing period, the submitter may still receive paymentimmediately. Central controller 200 pays the submitter after anagreement has been reached between the submitter and the third party enduser. At step 2120, the preferred billing method is retrieved from thirdparty end user database 270, and the appropriate billing module (creditcard, EFT, check, electronic cash), is initiated at step 2130.

The process of paying the submitter begins at step 2140 when the priceand tracking number of the content material are sent to payment database285, 290 with the ID of the submitter extracted from content materialand stored in payment database 285, 290. At step 2150, payment processor230 searches payment database 285, 290 by submitter ID and totals theamount owed to the submitter. As with billing the third party end user,the submitter could be paid using either a cash on delivery or creditprotocol. Cash on delivery works the same for the submitter as it doesfor the third party end user. Payment is made immediately. In the creditprotocol, the submitter has an account with central controller 200 thatmaintains a balance for the submitter. At step 2160, the preferredpayment method is retrieved from third party database 270, and theappropriate payment module is initiated at step 2170 before ending theprocess, step 2180. This step may be held up until payment has beenreceived from the third party end user. During the period betweenpayments, while the submitter still has a balance of funds due, it wouldbe possible for the submitter to use these funds to purchase contentmaterial for himself, with the amount deducted from the balancerepresented in payment database 285, 290. Although the above protocolsdescribe a number of ways in which payments may flow from third partyend user to submitter, it is important to note the methods by whichcentral controller 200 may generate revenues for services provided.

In one embodiment, a flat fee is charged for every third party end userrequest submitted, with the third party end user paying the fee inaddition to reimbursing the submitter. There could also be flat feesthat would cover any number of transactions over a given period of time,allowing third party end users to subscribe to the service much as theywould subscribe to a newspaper. In another embodiment, centralcontroller 200 creates a bid/ask spread in which third party end usersare charged a premium over the cost of the submitter or contentmaterial. If a submitter requires $1,000 for content material, centralcontroller 200 may mark this up by 20%, charging the third party enduser $1,200. Submitters may be retained by central controller 200 on asalaried basis, with revenues collected from third party end userspaying those salaries. In yet another embodiment, advertisers pay tohave messages included in third party end user request, contentmaterial, or web pages of central controller 200. Advertising revenuesthen partially or fully offset the cost of content material. Payments tosubmitters for content material produced may also be reduced in exchangefor the advertising message displayed at central controller 200 inrequests or content material. Alternatively, the method and apparatus ofthe present invention may be employed without a payment feature.

Once the amount owed by the third party end user and the amount to bepaid to the submitter has been calculated, appropriate billing andpayment methods are initiated.

FIG. 22 illustrates an exemplary payment and billing procedure usingcredit cards as the primary transaction vehicle. The advantage of thissystem is its simplicity. No bank account is necessary, and no papertransactions are required. At step 2200, central controller 200 looks upthe credit card number of the third party end user in creator/thirdparty end user databases 260, 270. At step 2205, this credit card numberis transmitted to billing processor 225. Billing processor 225 contactsthe credit card clearinghouse to get an authorization number at step2210. The billable amount appears on the credit card statement of thethird party end user at step 2215. At step 2220, the clearinghouse poststhis amount to central controller 200 account. At step 2225, centralcontroller 200 updates billing database 285, 290 to indicate thatpayment has been made. A similar process occurs on the payment side. Atstep 2230, central controller 200 looks up the credit card number of thesubmitter in member/submitter 255. At step 2235, this credit card numberis transmitted to payment processor 230. Payment processor 230 contactsthe issuing bank to verify that the account is still active at step2240. Value is added to the submitter's credit card account at step2245, where it shows up as a credit on his/her monthly bill. At step2250, central controller 200 updates payment database 285, 290 toindicate that payment has been made.

FIG. 23 illustrates a payment procedure involving standard bank checks.In billing the third party end user, central controller 200 looks up hismailing address at step 2300 in creator/third party end user databases260 and 270. This address is transmitted to billing processor 225 atstep 2310. A bill is mailed to the third party end user at step 2320,and the check is received from the third party end user at step 2330. Atstep 2340, central controller 200 updates billing database 285, 290 toindicate that payment has been made. At step 2350, central controller200 looks up the mailing address of the submitter in member/submitterdatabase 255. This information is transmitted to payment processor 230at step 2360. Payment processor 230 then automatically cuts a hard copycheck, payable to the submitter, which is then mailed to the submitterat step 2370. At step 2380, central controller 200 updates paymentdatabase 285, 290 to indicate that payment has been made.

Referring now to FIG. 24, there is illustrated a procedure in whichfunds are transferred via electronic funds transfer (EFT). At step 2400,the bank account number of the third party end user is looked up increator/third party end user databases 260, 270. This account number istransmitted to billing processor 225 at step 2410, followed by thetransfer of funds directly into the account of central controller 200 atstep 2420. At step 2430, central controller 200 updates billing database285, 290 to indicate that payment has been made. Paying the submitter isessentially the reverse process. At step 2440, central controller 200searches member/submitter database 255 for the bank account number ofthe submitter. This bank account number is transmitted to paymentprocessor 230 at step 2450, which transfers the money directly into theaccount of the submitter at step 2460. At step 2470, payment database285, 290 is updated to indicate that payment has been made.

Referring now to FIG. 25, there are shown commercial transactionprocedures using digital cash. For billing the third party end user,central controller 200 looks up the third party end user's electronicdelivery address in creator/third party end user databases 260, 270 atstep 2500. This address is transmitted to billing processor 225 at step2510, with the digital cash being downloaded from the third party enduser at step 2520. At step 2530, central controller 200 updates billingdatabase 285, 290 to indicate that payment has been made. Payment to thesubmitter proceeds similarly. At step 2540, the electronic deliveryaddress is sent to payment processor 230. This address might be anelectronic mail address if the digital cash is to be transferred byelectronic mail, or it could be an Internet Protocol address or URLcapable of accepting an online transfer of digital cash. At step 2550,this electronic delivery address is sent to payment processor 230. Atstep 2560, the digital cash is downloaded to the submitter. At step2570, central controller 200 updates payment database 285, 295 toindicate that payment has been made. Using these digital cash protocols,it is possible for the third party end user to include payment alongwith third party end user request in e-mail form. A third party end userwho had already negotiated a final price with a submitter for contentmaterial, for example, could include digital cash along with his/herconfirmation of the acceptability of the price. The practice of usingdigital cash protocols to effect payment is well known in the art andneed not be described here in detail. For reference, one of ordinaryskill in the art may refer to Daniel C. Lynch and Leslie Lundquist,Digital Money, John Wiley & Sons, 1996; or Seth Godin, PresentingDigital Cash, Sams Net Publishing, 1995.

Applications of the Invention

In order to clarify the object of the present invention, the followingexamples demonstrate some of the invention's applications from eitherthe creators or third party end user's perspective. These applicationsmay are exemplary only and are not intended to be inclusive of allpotential uses of the invention. It should also be noted that theexamples described below may include The Contest and Points AwardsProgram features, and other features of the invention, as describedabove.

A creator wants to develop a game show where information is gatheredabout the public's perception on various issues. In this interactivefeature, creative content developed by the show's producers is thenposed to the public. By simply answering polls, surveys, and otherentertaining questions, the producers will be able to gather specificcontent material targeted to the show's format. The game show is willingto pay $250 for content material used in the show, and a pre-determinednumber of points will also be awarded for entering sweepstakes and/orthe purchase of cash or merchandise awards. The responses will be briefand easy for the creator to disseminate.

A Production company, acting as a third party end user, is looking toproduce a feature film about the story of an individual who survivedagainst extraordinary odds in military combat. This content can eitherbe factual or fictional. A request through the network has beensubmitted to receive a his/her personal story or script relating to thissubject. The production company is willing to pay the submitter $50,000for the exclusive rights to such an account. Submitters are given atwo-month deadline to submit their content material, after which thesearch and selection process will begin. The production company has alsoelected to participate in the points awards program, offering submittersa pre-determined number of points for their participation.

A music company executive, acting as a third party end user, is lookingfor a talented lyricist, arrives at the exchange to perform an opensearch. After performing an extensive search the music executive selectsspecific content material in the form of lyrics to be applied to themusic of an already signed artist. The music executive now makes a bidof $5,000 for the lyrics of the submitter. The bid is accepted and themusic company retains non-exclusive rights to the material.

A creator wants to put together a country western CD of 10 songs from anassortment of talented but relatively unknown artists. The compilationwill serve to promote the up and coming new artists as well as countrywestern music. In his/her effort to finding the music, the creatorsubmits a request for country western music with the specificrequirements he/she is looking for and a three-month deadline for themusic submissions. Submitters record their music and transfer the audiofiles over the Internet to the exchange. After the deadline, the creatorsearches the music content database under the requested classificationand selects ten songs from the submissions, electing to pay the groups$20,000 for each recording. One group had two recordings selected forthe CD. Everyone participating in the country western music requestreceives a pre-determined number of points for entering sweepstakesand/or the purchase of cash or merchandise awards.

A novelty distributor, acting as a third party end user, would like todevelop a calendar with the concept of funny things children like do orsay. The distributor/creator of these novelty items has put a requestthrough the network to receive this type of entertaining informationfrom parents throughout the world. The distributor is willing to pay$100 for each submission selected for printing in the 2001-yearcalendar. A total of 365 submissions will be selected for the finalproduct. Submitters are given a 5-month deadline to submit theircontent. The distributor requests that all content be factual. Asidefrom the $100 incentive the submitter will also see their child's storyprinted on thousands of calendars sold across the nation.

The creator is seeking humorous and original material for a new line ofgreeting cards. All content must be no more than 10 words on the frontand no more than 20 words inside the card. A request through the networkhas been submitted to receive a greeting card concept that meets theseparameters. While the creator is looking for mainly humorous copyconcepts, they will accept accompanying illustrations (although they arenot mandatory). The creator is willing to pay $250 for each selectedgreeting card idea. Prior greeting card writing experience is notnecessary; just cleaver, fresh, humorous ideas that the creator feelsthere is a niche for. Creator has also chosen to participate in a pointsawards program offering a predetermined number of points for each ideasubmission.

A television production company, acting as a third part end user, islooking to produce a series of one-hour documentaries. There is nospecific requirement for submitted content, other than it is to beentertaining and factual. A request through the network has beensubmitted to receive an idea for a one-hour documentary program to beaired on syndicated television. The submitter should have a goodknowledge and understanding of the idea he/she is submitting. Theproduction company is willing to pay the submitter $5,000 for the rightsto the idea. Submitters are given a three-month deadline to submit theiridea, after which the search and selection process will begin. Theproduction company has contracted time with a major syndicate to produce5 one-hour segments.

A record label, acting as a third party end user, wants to create andproduce the music of an all boys hip-hop group. A request through thenetwork has been submitted to locate attractive male performers betweenthe ages of 16 and 21 who are talented at both singing and dancing(playing a musical instrument is not required). Group must consist of atleast 4 and no more than 6 members. Producer's search will commence onJanuary 1^(st) and end on December 31^(st) of that same year. Submitterscan record their music and transfer all audio and video files over theInternet to the exchange. After the deadline, the producers will searchthe content database under the requested classification and select onegroup from among all entrants. The selected group will receive aguaranteed recording label contract along with an unspecified amount ofcash.

A leading production company, acting as a third part end user, islooking to produce a full length “buddy-buddy” feature comedy film.Executives from the production company plan to perform an open search ofthe content database looking for content submissions, either story ideasor scripts, related to this concept. A high degree of comedy along witha cleaver story line using 2 male actors as the main characters is whatthe production company is looking for. The production company is willingto pay the submitter $25,000 for the exclusive rights to the suchcontent that is deemed to be a potential large box-office draw.Submitters are given a one year deadline to submit their content, afterwhich the search and selection process will begin.

A distributor would like to develop a 365 day calendar comprised solelyof dog pictures. Each page would feature a selected picture of a dog.All breeds, including mixes will be accepted for the selection process.The distributor of these calendars has submitted a request through thenetwork to receive photographs from dog owners around the world whobelieve they're dog has what it takes to make the calendar. It ispreferred the photographs are stored to a file and digitally transferredthrough the Internet to the exchange for review. A total of 365photograph entries will be accepted from among all those received. Thedistributor will pay $100 for each photograph submission accepted forprinting in the 2001-year calendar. The distributor will be looking forpictures of dogs only. No other animals or people should appear in thephotographs. Multiple dogs may, however, appear in one photograph. Allentries meeting these requirements and mailed before Sep. 19, 2000 willbe accepted for entry by the distributor.

A television network, acting as a third party end user, is looking forsome new humorous material it could adapt into one of its weeklysitcoms, which has recently plummeted in the ratings. Executives at thenetwork plan to both openly search the content databases for applicablematerial as well as submit a request through the network. The materialmay include but is not limited to ideas, real life stories, scripts oranything that might stimulate humor in what has otherwise become staleweekly episodes. The network has put no timeframe on the submissions ofcontent material hoping this new method of receiving story ideas can beongoing and will help improve ratings. The network plans on payingsubmitters $10,000 if their content material is selected, and as anadded incentive selected submitters may also get a cameo in an up andcoming episode. The contest format will be included as well so thepublic can vote and/or rate their favorite episodes, and thosesubmitters will receive larger grand prizes.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the method and apparatus ofthe present invention has many applications, and that the presentinvention is not limited to the representative examples disclosed hereinor the preferred embodiment of television and the Internet. Moreover,the scope to the present invention covers conventionally knownvariations and modifications to the system components described herein,as would be known by those skilled in the art. Various other embodimentsand modifications to these preferred embodiments may be made by thoseskilled in the art without departing form the scope or spirit of theinvention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited, except as bythe appended claims.

What is claimed:
 1. A computer system comprising one or more dataprocessing apparatus, and a computer-readable medium coupled to the oneor more data processing apparatus having instructions stored thereonwhich, when executed by the one or more data processing apparatus, causethe one or more data processing apparatus to perform an electronicmethod comprising: electronically retrieving a plurality of electronicmedia submissions from an electronic media submissions database using anelectronic content filter located on the one or more data processingapparatus, said filter being based at least in part on at least one ofthe one or more user attributes, the electronic media submissions storedin an electronic media submissions database on a non-transitory medium,the plurality of electronic media submissions transferred to theelectronic media submissions database over a public network, theelectronic media submissions database further stores data identifyingthe submitter and data indicating content for each electronic mediasubmission, the one or more user attributes stored in a user database;electronically generating a multimedia file from the retrievedelectronic media submissions in accordance with a selected digitalformat, wherein the identification of the submitter is maintained witheach retrieved submission within the multimedia file; electronicallytransmitting the multimedia file to a plurality of publicly accessiblewebservers to be electronically available for viewing on one or moreuser devices over a public network via a web-browser; and providing aweb-based graphical user interface that enables a user to electronicallytransmit data indicating a vote or rating for an electronicallyavailable multimedia content or an electronic media submission within arespective electronically available multimedia content.
 2. The computersystem of claim 1, wherein the electronic method further comprisesenabling a plurality of users to upload one or more electronic mediasubmissions to be stored in the electronic media submissions databaseover the public network.
 3. The computer system of claim 1, wherein anelectronic media submission includes one or more images and text.
 4. Thecomputer system of claim 1, wherein the electronic media submissionsdatabase includes solicited and unsolicited electronic mediasubmissions.
 5. The computer system of claim 1, wherein an electronicmedia submission includes text data.
 6. The computer system of claim 1,wherein the electronic method further comprises enabling the multimediacontent to be edited.
 7. The computer system of claim 1, wherein themultimedia file includes video.
 8. The computer system of claim 1,wherein the electronic filter includes criteria identifying a mediasubmission's subject matter.
 9. The computer system of claim 1, whereinthe electronic filter includes criteria identifying a media submission'stopic.
 10. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the electronic filterincludes criteria identifying a media submission's categoricalinformation.
 11. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the electronicfilter includes criteria identifying a media submission's title.
 12. Thecomputer system of claim 1, wherein the electronic filter includescriteria identifying a media submission's text.
 13. The computer systemof claim 1, wherein the electronic filter includes criteria identifyinga media submission's time of submission.
 14. The computer system ofclaim 1, wherein the electronic filter includes criteria identifying amedia submission's end user rating.
 15. The computer system of claim 1,wherein the electronic filter includes criteria identifying a mediasubmission's end user votes.
 16. The computer system of claim 1, whereinthe electronic filter includes criteria defined by keywords.
 17. Thecomputer system of claim 1, wherein the electronic method enables a userto electronic vote for an electronically available multimedia content.18. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the electronic methodenables a user to electronic vote for an electronic media submissionwithin a respective electronically available multimedia content.
 19. Thecomputer system of claim 1, wherein the electronic method enables a userto electronic rate an electronically available multimedia content. 20.The computer system of claim 1, wherein the electronic method enables auser to electronically rate an electronic media submission within arespective electronically available multimedia content.
 21. The computersystem of claim 1, wherein the one or more user attributes comprise oneor more of: one or more user preferences; one or more user memberships;one or more subjects; one or more categories; and one or more storedsearches.
 22. The computer system of claim 1, wherein, the electronicmedia submissions database further stores date and time of thesubmission.